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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 Back Mountain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Back Mountain 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 Back Mountain:
- 41.335913, -75.996311
- 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 Back Mountain
- 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 Luzerne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
- Since Back Mountain is near Wyoming County and also Lackawanna County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Wyoming County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lackawanna 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 Back Mountain
Curious and Interesting Names Near Back Mountain ...
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.
- Chase
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Chase is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase
- Fern Brook
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Fern Brook is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Brook
- Harveys Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hays Corner
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Hays Corner is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Corner
- Hillside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hillside is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
- Huntsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Huntsville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
- Kunkle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Kunkle is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kunkle
- Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lake is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake
- Maplewood Heights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Maplewood Heights is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Heights
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Meeker
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Meeker is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeker
- Outlet
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Outlet is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Outlet
- Ruggles
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Ruggles is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruggles
- Shavertown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Trucksville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Trucksville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trucksville
- Trucksville Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Trucksville Gardens is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trucksville Gardens
How Far From Back Mountain 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 Back Mountain to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Back Mountain and extending to:
- Wilkes-Barre, which is the Seat of Luzerne County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Back Mountain to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 177 miles [284.9 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,751 miles [9,255.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,464 miles [10,402.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,340 miles [6,984.6 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Back Mountain) 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 Back Mountain 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 Back Mountain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3359, Longitude: -75.9963 In this case, the coordinates for Back Mountain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.075 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.898 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.27 degrees. |
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