RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Orange County >> The Woods at Laurel Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in The Woods at Laurel Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Woods at Laurel Hill and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for The Woods at Laurel Hill
  • 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 The Woods at Laurel Hill:
    • 35.888756, -79.035566
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on The Woods at Laurel Hill
  • 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 Orange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Since The Woods at Laurel Hill is near Durham County and also Chatham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Durham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chatham 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for The Woods at Laurel Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Woods at Laurel Hill ...

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.

  • Cedar Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Chapel Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Colony Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Colony Park is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Park
  • Davie Circle
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Davie Circle is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davie Circle
  • Falconbridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Falconbridge is located in Durham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falconbridge
  • Five Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Five Oaks is located in Durham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Oaks
  • Greenwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Greenwood is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Hickory Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hickory Oaks is located in Durham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Oaks
  • Hidden Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hidden Hills is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Hills
  • High Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • High Park is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Park
  • Ironwoods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ironwoods is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironwoods
  • Lake Ellen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Ellen is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ellen
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pine Knob
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Pine Knob is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Knob
    • Quail Run
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Quail Run is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Robins Wood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Robins Wood is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robins Wood
    • Spring Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Valley is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Stoney Brook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Stoney Brook is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Brook
    • Wildwood Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Wildwood Springs is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Springs

How Far From The Woods at Laurel Hill 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 The Woods at Laurel Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in The Woods at Laurel Hill and extending to:

  • Hillsborough, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from The Woods at Laurel Hill to Hillsborough, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 23 miles [37 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 234 miles [376.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,113 miles [9,837.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,809 miles [10,958 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,690 miles [7,547.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- The Woods at Laurel Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 The Woods at Laurel Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in The Woods at Laurel Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8888, Longitude: -79.0356       In this case, the coordinates for The Woods at Laurel Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.176 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.452 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.592 degrees.