RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> McKean County >> Backus >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Backus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Backus 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 Backus:
    • 41.802285, -78.563912
    • 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 Backus
  • 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 McKean County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McKean County
    • Since Backus is near Elk County and also Cattaraugus County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cattaraugus 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 Backus

Communities Also Named Backus ...

We found three communities that are also named Backus.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Backus is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Cass County
      • This Backus is located in Cass County and lies 858 miles [1,380.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Backus that is located in McKean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of Backus.
    • New York
      • Saint Lawrence County
      • This Backus is located in Saint Lawrence County and lies 232 miles [373.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Backus that is located in McKean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Lawrence County community of Backus.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Backus is located in Fayette County and lies 301 miles [484.4 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Backus that is located in McKean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Backus.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Backus ...

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.

  • Allen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Allen is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
  • Big Shanty
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Shanty is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Shanty
  • Cyclone
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cyclone is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyclone
  • Farmers Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Farmers Valley is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Valley
  • Freeman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Freeman is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
  • Howard
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Howard is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
  • Irishtown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Irishtown is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irishtown
  • Lewis Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Marvindale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Marvindale is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvindale
  • Tallyho
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Tallyho is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallyho
  • Wolf Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Wolf Run is located in McKean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Run

How Far From Backus to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Backus to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Smethport, which is the Seat of McKean County, lies just to the East.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Backus to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 216 miles [347.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,836 miles [9,392.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,557 miles [10,552.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,432 miles [7,132.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Backus) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Backus 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 Backus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8023, Longitude: -78.5639       In this case, the coordinates for Backus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.614 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.711 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.249 degrees.