Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Kennebunk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Kennebunk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Kennebunk
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for West Kennebunk:
- 43.408696, -70.581442
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on West Kennebunk
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected York County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for York County
- Since West Kennebunk is near Cumberland County and also Strafford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
- eBird sighting report for Strafford County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Kennebunk ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Airport Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Airport Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Village
- Airport Village is located in York County
- Alewife
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Cozy Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cozy Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cozy Corners
- Cozy Corners is located in York County
- Elms
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Four Corners
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
- Four Corners is located in York County
- Highpine
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Hobbs Crossing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobbs Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbs Crossing
- Hobbs Crossing is located in York County
- Lower Landing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Landing
- Lower Landing is located in York County
- Millers Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millers Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Crossing
- Millers Crossing is located in York County
- Town House Corners
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town House Corners
- Town House Corners is located in York County
How Far From West Kennebunk to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as West Kennebunk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in West Kennebunk and extending to:
- Alfred, which is the Seat of York County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 73 miles [117.5 km]<3> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from West Kennebunk to Augusta, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 457 miles [735.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,443 miles [8,759.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,154 miles [9,903.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,030 miles [6,485.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Kennebunk. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for York County: www.co.york.me.us/
The official website for State of Maine: https://www.maine.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Kennebunk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Kennebunk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4087, Longitude: -70.5814 In this case, the coordinates for West Kennebunk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <5> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from West Kennebunk to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.522 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.24 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 299.803 degrees. |