Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Palo Alto, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Palo Alto and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Palo Alto
- 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 Palo Alto:
- 40.689257, -76.167442
- 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 Palo Alto
- 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 Schuylkill County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Schuylkill County
- Since Palo Alto is near Luzerne County and also Columbia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
- eBird sighting report for Columbia 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 Palo Alto ...
We found ten communities that share the name Palo Alto.
There is one other community in Pennsylvania which is also named Palo Alto.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Palo Alto ...
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.
- Coal Castle
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coal Castle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Castle
- Coal Castle is located in Schuylkill County
- Dark Water
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dark Water have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dark Water
- Dark Water is located in Schuylkill County
- Lorraine
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Marlin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Mechanicsville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Mechanicsville is located in Schuylkill County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 432 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mechanicsville <5>
- Minersville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
- Minersville is located in Schuylkill County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,133 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minersville <5>
- New Philadelphia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Philadelphia
- New Philadelphia is located in Schuylkill County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,027 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Philadelphia <5>
- Pottsville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsville
- Pottsville is located in Schuylkill County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,409 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pottsville <5>
- Seltzer
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seltzer
- Seltzer is located in Schuylkill County
- Silver Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Silver Creek is located in Schuylkill County
- Willow Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Lake
- Willow Lake is located in Schuylkill County
How Far From Palo Alto to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Palo Alto to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Palo Alto and extending to:
- Pottsville, which is the Seat of Schuylkill County, lies just to the West.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 46 miles [74 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Palo Alto to Harrisburg, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 132 miles [212.4 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,785 miles [9,310.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,496 miles [10,454.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,372 miles [7,036.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Palo Alto. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Schuylkill County: www.co.schuylkill.pa.us/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Palo Alto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Palo Alto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6893, Longitude: -76.1674 In this case, the coordinates for Palo Alto 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Palo Alto 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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Palo Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Palo Alto to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.237 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.978 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.62 degrees. |