RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Montgomery County >> Bala - Cynwyd >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bala - Cynwyd, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bala - Cynwyd 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 Bala - Cynwyd:
    • 40.006315, -75.232353
    • 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 Bala - Cynwyd
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Bala - Cynwyd is near Philadelphia County and also Allegheny County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Philadelphia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny 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 Bala - Cynwyd

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bala - Cynwyd ...

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.

  • Allgates
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Bywood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bywood is located in Delaware County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bywood
  • Carpenter
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Carpenter is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter
  • Cedar Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Park is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Park
  • Chestnut Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Fishers
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fishers is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishers
  • Francisville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Francisville is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francisville
  • Garden Court
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Garden Court is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Court
  • Grassland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Grassland is located in Delaware County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassland
  • Highland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Highland is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Hollow Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hollow Woods is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollow Woods
  • Hunting Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hunting Park is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Park
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Mount Pleasant
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Nicetown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Nicetown is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicetown
    • Roseglen
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Roseglen is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseglen
    • Spring Garden
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Garden is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
    • Spruce Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Spruce Hill is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Hill
    • Strawberry Mansion
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Strawberry Mansion is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Mansion
    • University City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • University City is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University City
    • Wyoming
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Wyoming is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming

How Far From Bala - Cynwyd 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 Bala - Cynwyd to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Bala - Cynwyd and extending to:

  • Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bala - Cynwyd to Norristown, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 89 miles [143.2 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 122 miles [196.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,774 miles [9,292.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,480 miles [10,428.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,357 miles [7,011.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Bala - Cynwyd) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Bala - Cynwyd 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 Bala - Cynwyd. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0063, Longitude: -75.2324    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.739 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.306 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.501 degrees.