RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New Jersey >> Camden County >> Echelon >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Echelon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Echelon and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Echelon:
    • 39.848447, -74.995723
    • 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 Echelon
  • 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 Camden County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Camden County
    • Since Echelon is near Burlington County and also Gloucester County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Burlington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gloucester 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 Echelon

Curious and Interesting Names Near Echelon ...

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.

  • Cherry Downs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cherry Downs is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Downs
  • Cherrywood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cherrywood is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrywood
  • Chews
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Chews is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chews
  • Deer Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Deer Park is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
  • Downs Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Downs Farms is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downs Farms
  • Greenhaven
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Greenhaven is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenhaven
  • Greenland
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Greenland is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
  • Greentree
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Greentree is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greentree
  • Hickstown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hickstown is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickstown
  • Hilltop
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hilltop is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Locust Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Locust Grove is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
  • Mechanicsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Reed Crossing
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Reed Crossing is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Crossing
    • Snow Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Snow Hill is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
    • Union Mills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Union Mills is located in Burlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Mills
    • Willow Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Willow Ridge is located in Burlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Ridge
    • Woodstream
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodstream is located in Burlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodstream

How Far From Echelon to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Echelon to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Echelon and extending to:

  • Camden, which is the Seat of Camden County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Echelon to Trenton, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 127 miles [204.4 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,771 miles [9,287.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,475 miles [10,420.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,352 miles [7,003.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Echelon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Echelon 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 Echelon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8484, Longitude: -74.9957       In this case, the coordinates for Echelon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.614 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.139 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.467 degrees.