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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in MacDonnell Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to MacDonnell Heights and the surrounding area.
- 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 MacDonnell Heights:
- 41.709538, -73.862357
- 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 MacDonnell Heights
- 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 Dutchess County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Dutchess County
- Since MacDonnell Heights is near Ulster County and also Orange County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Ulster County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Orange 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 MacDonnell Heights
Curious and Interesting Names Near MacDonnell Heights ...
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.
- Diddell
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Diddell is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diddell
- Freedom Plains
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Freedom Plains is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Plains
- Hickory Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Hickory Hills is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Highland
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Highland Landing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Highland Landing is located in Ulster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Landing
- Knapps Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Knapps Corner is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knapps Corner
- Netherwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Netherwood is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Netherwood
- Red Oaks Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Red Oaks Mill is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oaks Mill
- Shady Brook
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Shady Brook is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Brook
- Spackenkill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Spackenkill is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spackenkill
- Timothy Heights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Timothy Heights is located in Dutchess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timothy Heights
How Far From MacDonnell Heights 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 MacDonnell Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in MacDonnell Heights and extending to:
- Poughkeepsie, which is the Seat of Dutchess County, lies just to the West.
- Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from MacDonnell Heights to Albany, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 256 miles [412 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,647 miles [9,088 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,357 miles [10,230.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,233 miles [6,812.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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- MacDonnell Heights) 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 MacDonnell Heights 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 MacDonnell Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7095, Longitude: -73.8624 In this case, the coordinates for MacDonnell Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.745 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.457 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.146 degrees. |
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