RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Allegheny County >> Rural Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rural Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rural Ridge 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 Rural Ridge:
    • 40.586536, -79.828662
    • 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 Rural Ridge
  • 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 Allegheny County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny County
    • Since Rural Ridge is near Westmoreland County and also Butler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Butler 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 Rural Ridge

Communities Also Named Rural Ridge ...

We found two communities that are also named Rural Ridge.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Rural Ridge is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Orange County
      • This Rural Ridge is located in Orange County and lies 298 miles [479.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rural Ridge that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Rural Ridge.
    • Tennessee
      • Washington County
      • This Rural Ridge is located in Washington County and lies 326 miles [524.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Rural Ridge that is located in Allegheny County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Rural Ridge.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rural Ridge ...

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.

  • Arnold
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Arnold is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,790 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnold <2>
  • Barking
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Barking is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barking
  • Benjamin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Benjamin is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benjamin
  • Birdville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Birdville is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdville
  • Curtisville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Edgecliff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Edgecliff is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgecliff
  • Fox Chapel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Leechburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Milltown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Milltown is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
  • Pleasantville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasantville is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
  • Point Breeze
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Point Breeze is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Breeze
  • Red Hot
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Red Hot is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hot
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • River Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • River Valley is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Valley
    • Rosedale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Rosedale is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
    • Unity Junction
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Unity Junction is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity Junction
    • Valley Camp
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Valley Camp is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Camp

How Far From Rural Ridge 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 Rural Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rural Ridge and extending to:

  • Pittsburgh, which is the Seat of Allegheny County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rural Ridge to Pittsburgh, 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 156 miles [251.1 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 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 188 miles [302.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,940 miles [9,559.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,659 miles [10,716.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,534 miles [7,296.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Rural Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Rural Ridge 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 Rural Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5865, Longitude: -79.8287    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.476 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.50 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.295 degrees.