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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Interlaken, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Interlaken 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 Interlaken:
    • 43.057778, -73.729444
    • 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 Interlaken
  • 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 Saratoga County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saratoga County
    • Since Interlaken is near Washington County and also Rensselaer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rensselaer 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 Interlaken

Communities Also Named Interlaken ...

We found nine communities that are also named Interlaken.

There is one other community in New York that is also named Interlaken.

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

  • Communities Located In New York ...
    • Seneca County
      • This Interlaken is located in Seneca County and lies 154 miles [247.8 km]<1> to the west of the Interlaken that is located in Saratoga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Seneca County community of Interlaken.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Santa Cruz County
      • This Interlaken is located in Santa Cruz County and lies 2,538 miles [4,084.5 km]<1> to the west of the Interlaken that is located in Saratoga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Cruz County community of Interlaken.
    • Colorado
      • Chaffee County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Chaffee County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chaffee County community of Interlaken.
      • Lake County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Interlaken [Lake County].
    • Massachusetts
      • Berkshire County
      • This Interlaken is located in Berkshire County and lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Interlaken that is located in Saratoga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkshire County community of Interlaken.
    • Michigan
      • Muskegon County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Interlaken [Muskegon County].
    • New Jersey
      • Monmouth County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Interlaken [Monmouth County].
    • North Dakota
      • Steele County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Dakota community of Interlaken [Steele County].
    • Washington
      • Pierce County
      • This Interlaken is located in Pierce County and lies 2,356 miles [3,791.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Interlaken that is located in Saratoga County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of Interlaken.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Interlaken ...

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.

  • Birch Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Birch Run is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birch Run
  • Cedar Bluffs
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cedar Bluffs is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluffs
  • Deans Corners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Deans Corners is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deans Corners
  • Francis Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Francis Corners is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis Corners
  • Gilbert Corners
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Gilbert Corners is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert Corners
  • Heritage Manor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Heritage Manor is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Manor
  • Independence Square
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Independence Square is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence Square
  • Malta Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Malta Ridge is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta Ridge
  • Maple Shade
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Maple Shade is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Shade
  • Meadowbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Meadowbrook is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
  • Quaker Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Quaker Springs is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Springs
  • Snake Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Snake Hill is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snake Hill
  • Waters Edge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Waters Edge is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Edge
  • Wood Knolls
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Wood Knolls is located in Saratoga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Knolls

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

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

  • Ballston Spa, which is the Seat of Saratoga County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Interlaken to Albany, with an average speed<4> 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 334 miles [537.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,588 miles [8,993 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,303 miles [10,143.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,178 miles [6,723.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

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- Interlaken) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Interlaken, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Interlaken could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<4>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.
<5>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 Interlaken 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 Interlaken. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0578, Longitude: -73.7294       In this case, the coordinates for Interlaken have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.498 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.399 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.448 degrees.