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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Rockaway Valley:
    • 40.928154, -74.444321
    • 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 Rockaway Valley
  • 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 Morris County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morris County
    • Since Rockaway Valley is near Passaic County and also Essex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Passaic County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Essex 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 Rockaway Valley

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rockaway Valley ...

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.

  • Dover
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dover is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,619 people
  • Fox Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Fox Hill is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Franklin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Franklin is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Green Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Green Lake is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lake
  • Green Pond
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Green Pond is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Pond
  • Green Pond Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Green Pond Junction is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Pond Junction
  • Hibernia
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hibernia is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hibernia
  • Hilltown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hilltown is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltown
  • Lake Arrowhead
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Arrowhead is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Arrowhead
  • Littleton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Littleton is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
  • Lower Longwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lower Longwood is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Longwood
  • Lyonsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Lyonsville is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonsville
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Mount Hope
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Mount Hope is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
    • Powerville
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Powerville is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powerville
    • Smoke Rise
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Smoke Rise is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
    • Union Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Union Hill is located in Morris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill

How Far From Rockaway Valley 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 Rockaway Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Morristown, which is the Seat of Morris County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rockaway Valley to Morristown, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 51 miles [82.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 196 miles [315.4 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,703 miles [9,178.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,411 miles [10,317.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,287 miles [6,899.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rockaway Valley) 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 Rockaway Valley 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 Rockaway Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.9282, Longitude: -74.4443       In this case, the coordinates for Rockaway Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.181 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.822 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.759 degrees.