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.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Back Mountain
- 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.
- 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:
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Wyoming County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
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) - Fern Brook
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fern Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Brook
- Fern Brook is located in Luzerne County
- Harveys Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harveys Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveys Lake
- Harveys Lake is located in Luzerne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,812 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harveys Lake <2>
- Hays Corner
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hays Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Corner
- Hays Corner is located in Luzerne County
- Hillside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Huntsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huntsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
- Huntsville is located in Luzerne County
- Kunkle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Maplewood Heights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maplewood Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Heights
- Maplewood Heights is located in Luzerne County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Meeker
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeker
- Meeker is located in Luzerne County
- Outlet
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Ruggles
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Shavertown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shavertown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shavertown
- Shavertown is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shavertown <2>
- Trucksville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Trucksville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trucksville
- Trucksville is located in Luzerne County
- Trucksville Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trucksville Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trucksville Gardens
- Trucksville Gardens is located in Luzerne County
- Meeker
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<4> 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]<4> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Back Mountain to Harrisburg, with an average speed<5>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<6> 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).<7>
- 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).<8>
- 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).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Back Mountain. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Luzerne County: www.luzernecounty.org/
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Back Mountain) to Point B.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> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.075 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.898 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.27 degrees. |