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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wickatunk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wickatunk 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 Wickatunk:
    • 40.350109, -74.247923
    • 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 Wickatunk
  • 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 Monmouth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monmouth County
    • Since Wickatunk is near Middlesex County and also Richmond County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richmond 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 Wickatunk

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wickatunk ...

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.

  • Centerville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Centerville is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Cheesequake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cheesequake is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheesequake
  • Colts Neck
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Colts Neck is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colts Neck
  • Everett
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Everett is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett
  • Freehold
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Freehold is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freehold
  • Gordons Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gordons Corner is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordons Corner
  • Herberts Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Herberts Corner is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herberts Corner
  • Mechanicsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Mount Pleasant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Red Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Red Hill is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
  • Robertsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Robertsville is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsville
  • Smocks Corners
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Smocks Corners is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smocks Corners
  • Spring Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Spring Valley is located in Monmouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
  • Texas
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Texas is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas

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

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

  • Freehold, which is the Seat of Monmouth County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Wickatunk 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 179 miles [288.1 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,719 miles [9,203.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,423 miles [10,336.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,300 miles [6,920.2 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- Wickatunk) 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 Wickatunk 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 Wickatunk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3501, Longitude: -74.2479       In this case, the coordinates for Wickatunk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.124 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.665 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.93 degrees.