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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Round Top, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Round Top 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 Round Top:
    • 40.619825, -74.544878
    • 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 Round Top
  • 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 Somerset County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Somerset County
    • Since Round Top is near Morris County and also Middlesex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morris County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex 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 Round Top

Communities Also Named Round Top ...

We found seven communities that are also named Round Top.

Within New Jersey, the name Round Top is unique.

Beyond New Jersey, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Benton County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Round Top [Benton County].
    • New York
      • Greene County
      • This Round Top is located in Greene County and lies 116 miles [186.7 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Round Top that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Round Top.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Adams County
      • This Round Top is located in Adams County and lies 152 miles [244.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Round Top that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Round Top.
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence County
      • This Round Top is located in Providence County and lies 175 miles [281.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Round Top that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Providence County community of Round Top.
    • Tennessee
      • Wilson County
      • This Round Top is located in Wilson County and lies 699 miles [1,124.9 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Round Top that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Round Top.
    • Texas
      • Fayette County
      • This Round Top is located in Fayette County and lies 1,438 miles [2,314.2 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Round Top that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Round Top.
    • Virginia
      • Wise County
      • This Round Top is located in Wise County and lies 495 miles [796.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Round Top that is located in Somerset County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wise County community of Round Top.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Round Top ...

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.

  • Chimney Rock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Chimney Rock is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Rock
  • Coontown
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Coontown is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coontown
  • Fieldville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Fieldville is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldville
  • Grandview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grandview is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Green Knoll
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Green Knoll is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Knoll
  • Liberty Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty Corner is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Corner
  • Lyons
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lyons is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
  • Martinsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Martinsville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
  • Mount Horeb
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Mount Horeb is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Horeb
  • Pleasant Plains
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Plains is located in Morris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
  • Possumtown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Possumtown is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possumtown
  • Union Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Union Village is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Village

How Far From Round Top 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 Round Top to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Round Top and extending to:

  • Somerville, which is the Seat of Somerset County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Round Top to Trenton, with an average speed<3> 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 177 miles [284.9 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 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,720 miles [9,205.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,427 miles [10,343.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,303 miles [6,925 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Round Top, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Round Top) 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 Round Top 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 Round Top. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6198, Longitude: -74.5449       In this case, the coordinates for Round Top have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.273 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.876 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.939 degrees.