Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blue Marsh, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue Marsh and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blue Marsh
- 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 Blue Marsh:
- 40.367315, -76.036328
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Blue Marsh
- 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 Berks County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Berks County
- Since Blue Marsh is near Lancaster County and also Lebanon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lancaster County
- eBird sighting report for Lebanon 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Marsh ...
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.
- Birdland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Clover Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clover Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Park
- Clover Park is located in Berks County
- Cornwall Terrace
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cornwall Terrace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwall Terrace
- Cornwall Terrace is located in Berks County
- Foxchase
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Fritztown
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Green Valley Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley Gardens
- Green Valley Gardens is located in Berks County
- Heather Knoll
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heather Knoll have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Knoll
- Heather Knoll is located in Berks County
- Highland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Lincoln Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
- Lincoln Park is located in Berks County
- Mount Pleasant
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Berks County
- Phoebe Berks Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phoebe Berks Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoebe Berks Village
- Phoebe Berks Village is located in Berks County
- River View Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River View Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View Park
- River View Park is located in Berks County
- Rivers Bend
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rivers Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivers Bend
- Rivers Bend is located in Berks County
- Sinking Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinking Spring
- Sinking Spring is located in Berks County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,095 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sinking Spring <2>
How Far From Blue Marsh 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 Blue Marsh to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Blue Marsh once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Blue Marsh and extending to:
- Reading, which is the Seat of Berks County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 44 miles [70.8 km]<4> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Blue Marsh to Harrisburg, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 114 miles [183.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,793 miles [9,322.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,502 miles [10,464 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,378 miles [7,045.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Berks County: www.co.berks.pa.us/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Blue Marsh, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Blue Marsh) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue Marsh. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3673, Longitude: -76.0363 In this case, the coordinates for Blue Marsh have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Blue Marsh to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.186 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.87 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.697 degrees. |