Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dorrance, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dorrance and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dorrance
- 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 Dorrance:
- 41.104692, -76.008301
- 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 Dorrance
- 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 Luzerne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
- Since Dorrance is near Columbia County and also Carbon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- eBird sighting report for Carbon 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
Communities Also Named Dorrance ...
We found two communities that share the name Dorrance.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Dorrance is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Michigan
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dorrance ...
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.
- Drums
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drums have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drums
- Drums is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drums <4>
- Hobbie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Honey Hole
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Honey Hole have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Hole
- Honey Hole is located in Luzerne County
- Lee
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
- Lee is located in Luzerne County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Lee
- From Dorrance to Lee
- Pond Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Rippletown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rippletown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rippletown
- Rippletown is located in Luzerne County
- Rule Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rule Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rule Corners
- Rule Corners is located in Luzerne County
- Sand Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Spring
- Sand Spring is located in Luzerne County
- Springtown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springtown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springtown
- Springtown is located in Luzerne County
- Stairville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stairville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stairville
- Stairville is located in Luzerne County
- Warrior Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warrior Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrior Run
- Warrior Run is located in Luzerne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 550 people
How Far From Dorrance to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Dorrance to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dorrance and extending to:
- Wilkes-Barre, which is the Seat of Luzerne County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Dorrance to Wilkes-Barre, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 161 miles [259.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,761 miles [9,271.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,474 miles [10,418.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,349 miles [6,999 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Dorrance. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Luzerne County: www.luzernecounty.org/
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dorrance) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dorrance. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1047, Longitude: -76.0083 |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Dorrance could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Dorrance to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.104 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.894 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.374 degrees. |