RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Allegheny County >> Ben Avon Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ben Avon Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ben Avon Heights 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 Ben Avon Heights:
    • 40.512569, -80.072556
    • 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 Ben Avon Heights
  • 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 Allegheny County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny County
    • Since Ben Avon Heights is near Beaver County and also Butler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Beaver County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Butler 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 Ben Avon Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ben Avon Heights ...

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.

  • City View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • City View is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City View
  • Evergreen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Evergreen is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Fairywood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fairywood is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairywood
  • Fineview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Fineview is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fineview
  • Forest Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Forest Grove is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
  • Fox Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fox Ridge is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Ridge
  • Haysville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Haysville is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haysville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
  • Highcliff
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Highcliff is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highcliff
  • Ivory Avenue
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Ivory Avenue is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory Avenue
  • Laurel Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Laurel Gardens is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Gardens
  • Marshall Shadeland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Marshall Shadeland is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Shadeland
  • Moon Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Moon Run is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Run
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Perrysville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Perrysville is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrysville
    • Summer Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Summer Hill is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill
    • Windgap
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Windgap is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windgap
    • Woods Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Woods Run is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Run

How Far From Ben Avon Heights 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 Ben Avon Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Pittsburgh, which is the Seat of Allegheny County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 168 miles [270.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Ben Avon Heights to Harrisburg, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 196 miles [315.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,953 miles [9,580.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,672 miles [10,737.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,547 miles [7,317.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Ben Avon Heights) 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 Ben Avon Heights 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 Ben Avon Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5126, Longitude: -80.0726       In this case, the coordinates for Ben Avon Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.63 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.664 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.433 degrees.