RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Driftwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Driftwood 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 Driftwood:
    • 41.339610, -78.134386
    • 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 Driftwood
  • 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 Cameron County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron County
    • Since Driftwood is near Elk County and also Clearfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clearfield 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 Driftwood

Communities Also Named Driftwood ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Driftwood.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Driftwood is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eleven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Driftwood is located in Jefferson County and lies 734 miles [1,181.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Driftwood.
    • Arkansas
      • Lawrence County
      • This Driftwood is located in Lawrence County and lies 797 miles [1,282.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Driftwood.
    • Florida
      • Broward County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Driftwood [Broward County].
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Driftwood is located in Cook County and lies 500 miles [804.7 km]<1> to the west of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Driftwood.
    • Kansas
      • Rawlins County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Driftwood [Rawlins County].
    • New York
      • Chautauqua County
      • This Driftwood is located in Chautauqua County and lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chautauqua County community of Driftwood.
    • Ohio
      • Ashtabula County
      • This Driftwood is located in Ashtabula County and lies 152 miles [244.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ashtabula County community of Driftwood.
    • Oklahoma
      • Alfalfa County
      • This Driftwood is located in Alfalfa County and lies 1,123 miles [1,807.3 km]<1> to the west of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alfalfa County community of Driftwood.
    • Ontario
      • This Driftwood lies 560 miles [901.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
    • Tennessee
      • Sullivan County
      • This Driftwood is located in Sullivan County and lies 396 miles [637.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of Driftwood.
    • Texas
      • Hays County
      • This Driftwood is located in Hays County and lies 1,352 miles [2,175.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Driftwood that is located in Cameron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hays County community of Driftwood.
    • West Virginia
      • Pocahontas County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Driftwood [Pocahontas County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Driftwood ...

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.

  • Birch
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Birch is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birch
  • Castle Garden
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Castle Garden is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Garden
  • Cooks Run
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Dents Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Emporium
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • First Fork
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • First Fork is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for First Fork
  • Grant
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Hicks Run
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hicks Run is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Run
  • Howard Siding
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Howard Siding is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Siding
  • Keating
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Mix Run
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Piper
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Piper is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piper
  • Pottersdale
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Driftwood and extending to:

  • Emporium, which is the Seat of Cameron County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Driftwood to Emporium, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 98 miles [157.7 km] to the southeast (SE). 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 178 miles [286.5 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,839 miles [9,397 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,556 miles [10,550.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,432 miles [7,132.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Driftwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Driftwood 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Driftwood 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 Driftwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3396, Longitude: -78.1344    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.383 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.377 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.236 degrees.