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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elkins Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elkins Park 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 Elkins Park:
    • 40.072753, -75.127184
    • 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 Elkins Park
  • 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 Elkins Park is near Philadelphia County and also Burlington 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 Burlington 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 Elkins Park

Communities Also Named Elkins Park ...

We found one communities that are also named Elkins Park.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Elkins Park is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there is another community also named Elkins Park in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Randolph County
      • This Elkins Park is located in Randolph County and lies 890 miles [1,432.3 km]<1> to the west of the Elkins Park that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Elkins Park.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elkins Park ...

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.

  • Branchtown ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Cedar Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Cedarbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cedarbrook is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarbrook
  • Coventry House
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Coventry House is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry House
  • Crescentville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Fern Rock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Fern Rock is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Rock
  • Fern Rock Station ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Fishers
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fishers is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishers
  • Fox Chase
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Fox Chase is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Chase
  • Gravers
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Gravers is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravers
  • Hill Crest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hill Crest is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Crest
  • Hillside ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hillside is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Hunting Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Hunting Park is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Park
    • Ivy Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Ivy Hill is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hill
    • Jenkintown
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Kennedy House
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Kennedy House is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy House
    • Lawn Crest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Lawn Crest is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawn Crest
    • Lawncrest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Lawncrest is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawncrest
    • Lawndale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Lawndale is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
    • Meadowbrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mermaid
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Mermaid is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mermaid
    • Milestown ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Noble
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Oak Lane
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Oak Lane is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Lane
    • Oaklane
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Oaklane is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaklane
    • Rockledge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Summerdale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Summerdale is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerdale
    • Volunteertown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Volunteertown is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volunteertown
    • Walnut Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Wyoming
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Wyoming is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming

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

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

  • Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Elkins Park to Norristown, with an average speed<3> 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 93 miles [149.7 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 most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 130 miles [209.2 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,767 miles [9,281.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,473 miles [10,417.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,350 miles [7,000.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

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- Elkins Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Elkins Park 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 Elkins Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0728, Longitude: -75.1272    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.671 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.24 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.427 degrees.