Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Preakness, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Preakness and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Preakness
- 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 Preakness:
- 40.930376, -74.227646
- 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 Preakness
- 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 Passaic County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Passaic County
- Since Preakness is near Essex County and also Morris County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Essex County
- eBird sighting report for Morris 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 Preakness ...
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 Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Cedar Grove is located in Essex County
- Crystal Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
- Crystal Lake is located in Bergen County
- Franklin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Great Notch
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Notch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Notch
- Great Notch is located in Passaic County
- Lake View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Little Falls
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Falls
- Little Falls is located in Passaic County
- Meadow Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Village
- Meadow Village is located in Essex County
- Mountain View
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Mountain View is located in Passaic County
- Packanack Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Packanack Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packanack Lake
- Packanack Lake is located in Passaic County
- Saddle Brook
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddle Brook
- Saddle Brook is located in Bergen County
- Two Bridges
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Two Bridges have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Bridges
- Two Bridges is located in Essex County
How Far From Preakness to ...
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 Preakness to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Preakness and extending to:
- Paterson, which is the Seat of Passaic County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 56 miles [90.1 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Preakness to Trenton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 204 miles [328.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
- The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,402 miles [10,303 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,278 miles [6,884.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Preakness. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Passaic County: www.passaiccountynj.org/
The official website for State of New Jersey: https://www.state.nj.us/
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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Preakness) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Preakness. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.9304, Longitude: -74.2276 In this case, the coordinates for Preakness have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Preakness to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.052 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.676 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.663 degrees. |