RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Franklin County >> Mount Rock >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mount Rock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mount Rock 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 Mount Rock:
    • 40.021757, -77.564710
    • 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 Mount Rock
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Mount Rock is near Cumberland County and also Adams County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams 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 Mount Rock

Communities Also Named Mount Rock ...

We found two communities that are also named Mount Rock.

There are two communities within Pennsylvania that are also named Mount Rock.

Beyond Pennsylvania.

  • Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
    • Cumberland County
      • This Mount Rock is located in Cumberland County and lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Mount Rock that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Mount Rock.
    • Mifflin County
      • This Mount Rock is located in Mifflin County and lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<1> to the north of the Mount Rock that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mifflin County community of Mount Rock.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mount Rock ...

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.

  • Cheesetown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cheesetown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheesetown
  • Chestnut Crossroads
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Chestnut Crossroads is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Crossroads
  • Cold Spring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Cold Spring is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Green Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Village is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Village
  • Lees Cross Roads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lees Cross Roads is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Cross Roads
  • Mainsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Mainsville is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mainsville
  • Middle Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Middle Spring is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Spring
  • Mowersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Mowersville is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mowersville
  • Pleasant Hall
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Hall is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hall
  • Red Bridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Red Bridge is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bridge
  • Scotland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Smoketown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Smoketown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoketown

How Far From Mount Rock to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Mount Rock to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Chambersburg, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Mount Rock to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 82 miles [132 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,872 miles [9,450.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,583 miles [10,594.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,459 miles [7,176.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Mount Rock) 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 Mount Rock 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 Mount Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0218, Longitude: -77.5647       In this case, the coordinates for Mount Rock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.13 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.886 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.504 degrees.