RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in North Scottdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to North Scottdale 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 North Scottdale:
    • 40.109517, -79.566150
    • 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 North Scottdale
  • 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 Westmoreland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Since North Scottdale is near Fayette County and also Allegheny County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny 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 North Scottdale

Curious and Interesting Names Near North Scottdale ...

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.

  • Alice
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Alice is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
  • Buckeye
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Buckeye is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Hawkeye
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
  • Iron Bridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Iron Bridge is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Bridge
  • Kingview
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Kingview is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingview
  • Morewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Morewood is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morewood
  • Mount Pleasant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Orchard Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Orchard Hill is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hill
  • Pinetree
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Pinetree is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinetree
  • Ridge View
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ridge View is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge View
  • Standard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Standard is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard
  • Walnut Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Walnut Hill is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill

How Far From North Scottdale 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 North Scottdale to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in North Scottdale and extending to:

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Westmoreland County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from North Scottdale to Greensburg, with an average speed<3> 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 142 miles [228.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 158 miles [254.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,950 miles [9,575.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,666 miles [10,727.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,542 miles [7,309.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- North Scottdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 North Scottdale 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 North Scottdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1095, Longitude: -79.5661       In this case, the coordinates for North Scottdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.34 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.272 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.353 degrees.