Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Raricks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Raricks and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Raricks
- 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 Raricks:
- 40.900920, -76.233828
- 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 Raricks
- 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 Raricks is near Columbia County and also Luzerne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- eBird sighting report for Luzerne 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Raricks ...
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.
- Beaver Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Valley
- Beaver Valley is located in Columbia County
- Craigs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Dogtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Ellen Gowan
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellen Gowan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellen Gowan
- Ellen Gowan is located in Schuylkill County
- Fern Glen
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Ferndale
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Glen Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Junction
- Glen Junction is located in Luzerne County
- Gum Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Krebs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Lost Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Creek
- Lost Creek is located in Schuylkill County
- Maple Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill
- Maple Hill is located in Schuylkill County
- Mountain Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mountain Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
- Mountain Grove is located in Luzerne County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Raven Run
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Ringtown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringtown
- Ringtown is located in Schuylkill County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 757 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ringtown <3>
- Rock Glen
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Slabtown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Turkey Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Run have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Run
- Turkey Run is located in Schuylkill County
- Zion Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Grove
- Zion Grove is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zion Grove <3>
- Raven Run
How Far From Raricks 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 Raricks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Raricks and extending to:
- Pottsville, which is the Seat of Schuylkill County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<4> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Raricks to Pottsville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 54 miles [86.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 144 miles [231.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,779 miles [9,300.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,491 miles [10,446.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,367 miles [7,028 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Raricks. 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 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Raricks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Raricks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.9009, Longitude: -76.2338 In this case, the coordinates for Raricks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Raricks 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 307.259 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.036 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.561 degrees. |