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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Silvernails, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Silvernails 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 Silvernails:
    • 42.014973, -73.687968
    • 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 Silvernails
  • 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 Silvernails is near Dutchess County and also Litchfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dutchess County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Litchfield 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 Silvernails

Curious and Interesting Names Near Silvernails ...

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.

  • Bangall
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Blue Store
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Blue Store is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Store
  • Boston Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Boston Corner is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston Corner
  • Bulls Head
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bulls Head is located in Dutchess County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bulls Head
  • Cokertown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Cokertown is located in Dutchess County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokertown
  • College Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • College Park is located in Dutchess County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Hammertown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hammertown is located in Dutchess County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammertown
  • Irondale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Market
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Market is located in Dutchess County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Market
  • New Forge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • New Forge is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Forge
  • Pumpkin Hollow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Pumpkin Hollow is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Hollow
  • Red Hook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Silvernails and extending to:

  • Hudson, which is the Seat of Columbia County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Silvernails to Hudson, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 44 miles [70.8 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 277 miles [445.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,628 miles [9,057.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,339 miles [10,201.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,214 miles [6,781.8 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Silvernails) 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 Silvernails 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 Silvernails. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0150, Longitude: -73.6880       In this case, the coordinates for Silvernails have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.604 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.347 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.925 degrees.