RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Dauphin County >> Laurel Woods >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laurel Woods, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laurel Woods 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 Laurel Woods:
    • 40.240091, -76.654692
    • 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 Laurel Woods
  • 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 Dauphin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dauphin County
    • Since Laurel Woods is near Lancaster County and also Lebanon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lancaster County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lebanon 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 Laurel Woods

Communities Also Named Laurel Woods ...

We found three communities that are also named Laurel Woods.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Laurel Woods is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Fulton County
      • This Laurel Woods is located in Fulton County and lies 630 miles [1,013.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Laurel Woods that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Laurel Woods.
    • Maryland
      • Harford County
      • This Laurel Woods is located in Harford County and lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Laurel Woods that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Laurel Woods.
    • Virginia
      • Roanoke County
      • This Laurel Woods is located in Roanoke County and lies 271 miles [436.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Laurel Woods that is located in Dauphin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke County community of Laurel Woods.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laurel Woods ...

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.

  • Beverly
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Beverly is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
  • Hershey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • High Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • High Ridge is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Ridge
  • Hockersville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hockersville is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hockersville
  • Hummelstown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Plainville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Plainville is located in Lebanon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
  • Pleasant View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant View is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Sand Beach
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Sand Beach is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Beach
  • Sandhill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Sandhill is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandhill
  • Union Deposit
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Union Deposit is located in Dauphin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Deposit

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

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

  • Harrisburg, which is the Seat of Dauphin County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Laurel Woods to Harrisburg, 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 12 miles [19.3 km] to the west northwest (WNW). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 94 miles [151.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,825 miles [9,374.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,534 miles [10,515.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,410 miles [7,097.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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- Laurel Woods) 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 Laurel Woods 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 Laurel Woods. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2401, Longitude: -76.6547       In this case, the coordinates for Laurel Woods have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.567 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.281 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.019 degrees.