Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Niantic, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Niantic and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Niantic
- 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 Niantic:
- 40.378987, -75.571573
- 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 Niantic
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
- Since Niantic is near Berks County and also Lehigh County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Berks 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
Communities Also Named Niantic ...
We found four communities that share the name Niantic.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Niantic is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Missouri
- Rhode Island
Curious and Interesting Names Near Niantic ...
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.
- Anise
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Chapel
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Churchville
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Churchville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchville
- Churchville is located in Berks County
- Congo
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo
- Congo is located in Montgomery County
- Dale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Dale is located in Berks County
- Fruitville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitville
- Fruitville is located in Montgomery County
- Gilbertsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilbertsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertsville
- Gilbertsville is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilbertsville <4>
- Hillegass
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Layfield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Lyons
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Orchard Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
- Orchard Hills is located in Berks County
- Palm
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm
- Palm is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palm <4>
- Pleasant Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
- Pleasant Run is located in Montgomery County
- Red Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Red Hill is located in Montgomery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,357 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Red Hill <4>
- Schultzville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schultzville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schultzville
- Schultzville is located in Berks County
- Lyons
How Far From Niantic 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 Niantic to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Niantic and extending to:
- Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Niantic to Norristown, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 69 miles [111 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 about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 128 miles [206 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,773 miles [9,290.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,481 miles [10,430.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,358 miles [7,013.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Niantic. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Montgomery County: www.montcopa.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- Niantic) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Niantic. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3790, Longitude: -75.5716 In this case, the coordinates for Niantic 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Niantic 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 Niantic 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 306.907 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.556 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.49 degrees. |