Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Helen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Helen and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Helen
- 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 Helen:
- 39.971187, -79.780876
- 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 Helen
- 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Since Helen is near Washington County and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- eBird sighting report for Greene 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 Helen ...
We found eight communities that share the name Helen.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Helen is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Meade 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 Helen [Meade County].
- Sedgwick County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Helen [Sedgwick County].
- Maryland
- Tennessee
- Washington
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Helen ...
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.
- Chestnut Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
- Chestnut Ridge is located in Fayette County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chestnut Ridge <4>
- Dearth
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Herbert
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Lower Peanut
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Peanut have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Peanut
- Lower Peanut is located in Fayette County
- Mount Hope
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Fayette County
- Rocks Works
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocks Works have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocks Works
- Rocks Works is located in Fayette County
- Sea Right
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Searights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Shamrock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Smock
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smock
- Smock is located in Fayette County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Smock <4>
- Tuckertown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tuckertown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckertown
- Tuckertown is located in Fayette County
- Upper Peanut
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Upper Peanut have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Peanut
- Upper Peanut is located in Fayette County
How Far From Helen 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 Helen to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Helen and extending to:
- Uniontown, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 154 miles [247.8 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Helen to Harrisburg, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 164 miles [263.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,965 miles [9,599.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,681 miles [10,752 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,557 miles [7,333.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Helen. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Fayette County: www.fayettepa.org
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Helen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Helen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9712, Longitude: -79.7809 In this case, the coordinates for Helen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Helen 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> | 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 Helen 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 309.478 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.408 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.499 degrees. |