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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 Benfer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benfer 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 Benfer:
- 40.773514, -77.209197
- 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 Benfer
- 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 Snyder County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Snyder County
- Since Benfer is near Union County and also Juniata County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Juniata 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 Benfer
Curious and Interesting Names Near Benfer ...
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.
- Beaver Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Beavertown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Crossgrove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Crossgrove is located in Snyder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossgrove
- Glen Iron
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Kissimmee
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Kissimmee is located in Snyder County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kissimmee
- Laurel Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Laurel Park is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Park
- Middle Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Pardee
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pardee is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardee
How Far From Benfer 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 Benfer to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Benfer and extending to:
- Middleburg, which is the Seat of Snyder County, lies just to the East.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Benfer to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 129 miles [207.6 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,825 miles [9,374.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,538 miles [10,521.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,414 miles [7,103.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 'straight-line' (or 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- Benfer) 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 Benfer 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 Benfer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7735, Longitude: -77.2092 In this case, the coordinates for Benfer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.86 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.697 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.047 degrees. |
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