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 Highland Lakes:
41.177318, -74.468768
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.
We found four communities that share the name Highland Lakes.
Within New Jersey, the name Highland Lakes is unique.
Beyond New Jersey, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Colorado
Teller County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Highland Lakes [Teller County].
Florida
Highlands County
This Highland Lakes is located in Highlands County and lies 1,016 miles [1,635.1 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Highland Lakes that is located in Sussex County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Highlands County community of Highland Lakes.
Miami-Dade County
This Highland Lakes is located in Miami-Dade County and lies 1,099 miles [1,768.7 km] to the south southwest of the Highland Lakes that is located in Sussex County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miami-Dade County community of Highland Lakes.
Louisiana
East Baton Rouge Parish
This Highland Lakes is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and lies 1,189 miles [1,913.5 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Highland Lakes that is located in Sussex County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the East Baton Rouge Parish community of Highland Lakes.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Highland Lakes ...
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.
Beaver Lake (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Edenville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Highland Lakes to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Highland Lakes and extending to:
Newton, which is the Seat of Sussex County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Highland Lakes to Newton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 207 miles [333.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,694 miles [9,163.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,403 miles [10,304.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,279 miles [6,886.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Footnotes ...
<1>
If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Highland Lakes could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Highland Lakes) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Highland Lakes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1773, Longitude: -74.4688 In this case, the coordinates for Highland Lakes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>
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.
<4>
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.
<5>
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.
<6>
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 Highland Lakes to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.169 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.849 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.658 degrees.