Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Scranton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Scranton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Scranton
- 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 Scranton:
- 41.408722, -75.658636
- 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 Scranton
- 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 Lackawanna County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lackawanna County
- Since Scranton is near Luzerne County and also Wyoming County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Luzerne 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 Scranton ...
We found eighteen communities that share the name Scranton.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Scranton is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Scranton ...
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.
- Barbertown ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barbertown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barbertown
- Barbertown is located in Lackawanna County
- Bush Patch
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bush Patch have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush Patch
- Bush Patch is located in Lackawanna County
- Dickson City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dickson City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickson City
- Dickson City is located in Lackawanna County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,731 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dickson City <5>
- Dunmore
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunmore
- Dunmore is located in Lackawanna County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,836 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunmore <5>
- Grassy Island
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grassy Island have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Island
- Grassy Island is located in Lackawanna County
- Green Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge
- Green Ridge is located in Lackawanna County
- Greenwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Hillside Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillside Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Junction
- Hillside Junction is located in Lackawanna County
- Jessup
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jessup have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jessup
- Jessup is located in Lackawanna County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,372 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jessup <5>
- Marshwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Milwaukee
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Olyphant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olyphant have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olyphant
- Olyphant is located in Lackawanna County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,007 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olyphant <5>
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Peckville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peckville
- Peckville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peckville <5>
- Providence
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Lackawanna County
- Spike Island
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spike Island have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spike Island
- Spike Island is located in Lackawanna County
- Starks
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Peckville
How Far From Scranton 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 city such as Scranton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Scranton and extending to:
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Scranton to Harrisburg, with an average speed<6>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 188 miles [302.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,734 miles [9,228 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,447 miles [10,375.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,322 miles [6,955.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Scranton: www.scrantonpa.gov/
The official website for Lackawanna County: www.lackawannacounty.org/
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' (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- Scranton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Scranton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4087, Longitude: -75.6586 |
| <2> | 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 Scranton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Scranton 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> | 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 Scranton 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 306.864 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.67 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.087 degrees. |