Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Plains, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plains and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Plains
- 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 Plains:
- 41.275464, -75.850613
- 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 Plains
- 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 Luzerne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
- Since Plains is near Lackawanna County and also Wyoming County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lackawanna County
- eBird sighting report for Wyoming 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 Plains ...
We found 21 communities that share the name Plains.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Plains is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Cobb County
- This Plains is located in Cobb County and lies 686 miles [1,104 km]<2> to the southwest of the Plains that is located in Luzerne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cobb County community of Plains.
- Sumter County
- This Plains is located in Sumter County and lies 793 miles [1,276.2 km] to the southwest of the Plains that is located in Luzerne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Plains.
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Caroline County
- This Plains is located in Caroline County and lies 156 miles [251.1 km]<2> to the south of the Plains that is located in Luzerne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caroline County community of Plains.
- Charles County
- This Plains is located in Charles County and lies 202 miles [325.1 km] to the south southwest of the Plains that is located in Luzerne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charles County community of Plains.
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oneida County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Plains [Oneida County].
- Washington County
- This Plains is located in Washington County and lies 176 miles [283.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Plains that is located in Luzerne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Plains.
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Borden County
- This Plains is located in Borden County and lies 1,526 miles [2,455.9 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Plains that is located in Luzerne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Borden County community of Plains.
- Yoakum County
- This Plains is located in Yoakum County and lies 1,576 miles [2,536.3 km] to the west of the Plains that is located in Luzerne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yoakum County community of Plains.
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Plains ...
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.
- Dickville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Edwardsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edwardsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Edwardsville is located in Luzerne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,738 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edwardsville <5>
- Forty Fort
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Forty Fort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forty Fort
- Forty Fort is located in Luzerne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,025 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Forty Fort
- From Plains to Forty Fort
- Fox Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Georgetown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Georgetown is located in Luzerne County
- Happy Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Happy Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
- Happy Valley is located in Luzerne County
- Inkerman
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Keystone
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Miners Mills
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
- Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Miners Mills
- From Plains to Miners Mills
- Parsons
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Plainsville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsville
- Plainsville is located in Luzerne County
- Pringle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Wyoming
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyoming have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
- Wyoming is located in Luzerne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,004 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wyoming <5>
How Far From Plains 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 Plains to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Plains and extending to:
- Wilkes-Barre, which is the Seat of Luzerne County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 87 miles [140 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Plains to Harrisburg, with an average speed<7>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 175 miles [281.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,748 miles [9,250.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,460 miles [10,396.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,336 miles [6,978.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plains. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Luzerne County: www.luzernecounty.org/
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Plains, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Plains) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2755, Longitude: -75.8506 |
| <3> | 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 Plains 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. |
| <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> | 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. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Plains to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.993 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.795 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.23 degrees. |