RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Montgomery County >> The Colony at Valley Forge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Colony at Valley Forge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Colony at Valley Forge and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for The Colony at Valley Forge
  • 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 The Colony at Valley Forge:
    • 40.147200, -75.449900
    • 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 The Colony at Valley Forge
  • 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 The Colony at Valley Forge is near Chester County and also Indiana County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chester County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Indiana 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 The Colony at Valley Forge

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Colony at Valley Forge ...

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.

  • Audubon
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Bull Tavern
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bull Tavern is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Tavern
  • Collegeville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Colony Arms
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Colony Arms is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Arms
  • Corner Store
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Corner Store is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corner Store
  • Eagleville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Freedom View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Freedom View is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom View
  • Green Tree
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Green Tree is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Tree
  • Mews at Valley Forge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Mews at Valley Forge is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mews at Valley Forge
  • Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Powderhorn Knoll
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Powderhorn Knoll is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powderhorn Knoll
  • Providence Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Providence Crossing is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Crossing
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Providence Green
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Providence Green is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Green
    • Providence Meadows
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Providence Meadows is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Meadows
    • Providence Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Providence Oaks is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Oaks
    • Providence Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Providence Ridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Ridge
    • Providence View
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Providence View is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence View
    • Rivers Bend
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Rivers Bend is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivers Bend
    • Riverwalk
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Riverwalk is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwalk
    • Sugar Hill Farms
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sugar Hill Farms is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill Farms
    • Sunnyside Farms
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Sunnyside Farms is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside Farms
    • Sunwood Farm
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sunwood Farm is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunwood Farm
    • Trooper
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Winding River
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Winding River is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winding River
    • Wooded Glen
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Wooded Glen is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooded Glen

How Far From The Colony at Valley Forge 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 The Colony at Valley Forge to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in The Colony at Valley Forge and extending to:

  • Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 76 miles [122.3 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from The Colony at Valley Forge to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 120 miles [193.1 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,778 miles [9,298.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,485 miles [10,436.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,361 miles [7,018.3 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- The Colony at Valley Forge) 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 The Colony at Valley Forge 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 The Colony at Valley Forge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1472, Longitude: -75.4499       In this case, the coordinates for The Colony at Valley Forge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.856 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.461 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.535 degrees.