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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bethayres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bethayres 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 Bethayres:
    • 40.113999, -75.071005
    • 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 Bethayres
  • 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 Bethayres is near Philadelphia County and also Bucks 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 Bucks 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 Bethayres

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bethayres ...

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.

  • Blue Grass
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Blue Grass is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Grass
  • County Line
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • County Line is located in Bucks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
  • Coventry House
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Coventry House is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry House
  • Fox Chase
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Fox Chase is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Chase
  • Harrisburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Harrisburg is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Heaton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Heaton is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heaton
  • Hillside ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hillside is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
  • Jamestown Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jamestown Village is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Village
  • Jenkintown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Kennedy House
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Kennedy House is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy House
  • Lawn Crest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lawn Crest is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawn Crest
  • Lawncrest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lawncrest is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawncrest
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Lawndale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Lawndale is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
    • Meadowbrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • Noble
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Noble is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble
    • Normandy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Normandy is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normandy
    • Oak Lane
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Lane is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Lane
    • Oaklane
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Oaklane is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaklane
    • Paper Mills
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Paper Mills is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mills
    • Pauls Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pauls Run is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauls Run
    • Pennypack
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Pennypack is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennypack
    • Pennypack Woods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Pennypack Woods is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennypack Woods
    • Robert Bruce
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Robert Bruce is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robert Bruce
    • Rockledge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Shoemaker Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Shoemaker Village is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoemaker Village
    • Street Road
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Street Road is located in Bucks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Street Road
    • Volunteertown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Volunteertown is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volunteertown
    • Walnut Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Willow Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)

How Far From Bethayres 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 Bethayres to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Bethayres and extending to:

  • Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Bethayres to Norristown, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 96 miles [154.5 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 134 miles [215.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,763 miles [9,274.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,469 miles [10,410.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,346 miles [6,994.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bethayres) 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 Bethayres 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 Bethayres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1140, Longitude: -75.0710       In this case, the coordinates for Bethayres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.634 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.204 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.386 degrees.