RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Columbia County >> Golden Acres >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Golden Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Golden Acres 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 Golden Acres:
    • 42.403611, -73.618056
    • 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 Golden Acres
  • 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 Columbia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
    • Since Golden Acres is near Rensselaer County and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rensselaer County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene 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 Golden Acres

Communities Also Named Golden Acres ...

We found seven communities that are also named Golden Acres.

Within New York, the name Golden Acres is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Tuscaloosa County
      • This Golden Acres is located in Tuscaloosa County and lies 987 miles [1,588.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Golden Acres that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscaloosa County community of Golden Acres.
    • Georgia
      • Fulton County
      • This Golden Acres is located in Fulton County and lies 842 miles [1,355.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Golden Acres that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Golden Acres.
    • Illinois
      • Peoria County
      • This Golden Acres is located in Peoria County and lies 833 miles [1,340.6 km]<1> to the west of the Golden Acres that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Peoria County community of Golden Acres.
    • Indiana
      • Allen County
      • This Golden Acres is located in Allen County and lies 595 miles [957.6 km]<1> to the west of the Golden Acres that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allen County community of Golden Acres.
    • Texas
      • Harris County
      • This Golden Acres is located in Harris County and lies 1,482 miles [2,385 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Golden Acres that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Golden Acres.
    • Utah
      • Davis County
      • This Golden Acres is located in Davis County and lies 1,961 miles [3,155.9 km]<1> to the west of the Golden Acres that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davis County community of Golden Acres.
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Golden Acres is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,965 miles [3,162.4 km] to the west of the Golden Acres that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Golden Acres.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Golden Acres ...

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.

  • Brick Tavern
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Brick Tavern is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brick Tavern
  • Coxsackie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Flatbrook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Flatbrook is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatbrook
  • Harlemville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Harlemville is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlemville
  • Kinderhook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Newton Hook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Newton Hook is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Hook
  • Otter Hook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Otter Hook is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter Hook
  • Poolsburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Poolsburg is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poolsburg
  • Red Rock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Red Rock is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
  • Riders
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Riders is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riders
  • Riders Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Riders Mills is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riders Mills
  • Rock City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Rock City is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
  • Sunnyside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Sunnyside is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside

How Far From Golden Acres to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Golden Acres to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Hudson, which is the Seat of Columbia County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Golden Acres to Hudson, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 18 miles [29 km] to the north northwest (NNW). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 301 miles [484.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,609 miles [9,026.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,322 miles [10,174.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,197 miles [6,754.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Golden Acres) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Golden Acres 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 Golden Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4036, Longitude: -73.6181       In this case, the coordinates for Golden Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.513 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.309 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.71 degrees.