Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Old Forge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Forge and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Old Forge
- 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 Old Forge:
- 39.794538, -77.484156
- 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 Old Forge
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- Since Old Forge is near Adams County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Adams County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Old Forge ...
We found four communities that share the name Old Forge.
There are three communities within Pennsylvania that are also named Old Forge.
Beyond Pennsylvania, there is another community also named Old Forge in the United States.
- Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
- Delaware County
- Lackawanna County
- Luzerne County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Forge ...
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.
- Beartown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
- Beartown is located in Franklin County
- Cascade
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Fountain Dale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fountain Dale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Dale
- Fountain Dale is located in Adams County
- Fox Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Gladhill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Highfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Highfield - Cascade
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield - Cascade
- Highfield - Cascade is located in Washington County (MD)
- Iron Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iron Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Springs
- Iron Springs is located in Adams County
- Jacks Mountain
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacks Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacks Mountain
- Jacks Mountain is located in Adams County
- Maria Furnace
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maria Furnace have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maria Furnace
- Maria Furnace is located in Adams County
- Marshall
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - 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.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Adams County
- Continue List (5 more) ...
- Roadside
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Slabtown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Tartown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Tomstown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Virginia Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Mills
- Virginia Mills is located in Adams County
- Roadside
How Far From Old Forge 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 Old Forge to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Old Forge and extending to:
- Chambersburg, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Old Forge to Chambersburg, with an average speed<5> 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 46 miles [74 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 66 miles [106.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,878 miles [9,459.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,588 miles [10,602.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,464 miles [7,184.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Old Forge. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Franklin County: www.co.franklin.pa.us/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Old Forge 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. |
| <2> | 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- Old Forge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Old Forge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7945, Longitude: -77.4842 In this case, the coordinates for Old Forge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Old Forge 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 308.097 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.813 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.557 degrees. |