Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Five Locks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Five Locks and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Five Locks
- 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 Five Locks:
- 40.526204, -75.986045
- 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 Five Locks
- 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 Five Locks is near Schuylkill County and also Lehigh County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Schuylkill County
- eBird sighting report for Lehigh 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 Five Locks ...
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.
- Cherokee Ranch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Ranch
- Cherokee Ranch is located in Berks County
- Deer Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Heather Knoll
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- 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
- Kirbyville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kirbyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirbyville
- Kirbyville is located in Berks County
- Maiden Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maiden Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden Creek
- Maiden Creek is located in Berks County
- Shadow Ridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shadow Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Ridge
- Shadow Ridge is located in Berks County
- Shoemakersville
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shoemakersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoemakersville
- Shoemakersville is located in Berks County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,384 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shoemakersville <3>
- Stony Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stony Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
- Stony Creek is located in Schuylkill County
- Temple
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Temple have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple
- Temple is located in Berks County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Temple <3>
- Virginville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginville
- Virginville is located in Berks County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virginville <3>
- Willow Gardens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Gardens
- Willow Gardens is located in Berks County
How Far From Five Locks 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 Five Locks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Five Locks and extending to:
- Reading, which is the Seat of Berks County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<4> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Five Locks to Reading, with an average speed<5> 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 49 miles [78.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 125 miles [201.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,785 miles [9,310.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,494 miles [10,451.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,370 miles [7,032.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Five Locks. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Berks County: www.co.berks.pa.us/
The official website for Commonwealth 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> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Five Locks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Five Locks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5262, Longitude: -75.9860 In this case, the coordinates for Five Locks 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 Five Locks 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 307.142 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.845 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.608 degrees. |