Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in South Mountain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Mountain and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for South Mountain
- 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 South Mountain:
- 39.846482, -77.487766
- 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 South Mountain
- 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- Since South Mountain is near Adams County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Adams County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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 South Mountain ...
We found four communities that share the name South Mountain.
There is one other community in Pennsylvania which is also named South Mountain.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Pennsylvania ...
- Berks County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of South Mountain [Berks County].
- Berks County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Idaho
- Owyhee County
- This South Mountain is located in Owyhee County and lies 2,036 miles [3,276.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the South Mountain that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Owyhee County community of South Mountain.
- Ontario
- This South Mountain lies 369 miles [593.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the South Mountain that is located in Franklin County.
- Texas
- Coryell County
- This South Mountain is located in Coryell County and lies 1,268 miles [2,040.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the South Mountain that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coryell County community of South Mountain.
- Idaho
Curious and Interesting Names Near South Mountain ...
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.
- Beartown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
- Beartown is located in Franklin County
- Cashtown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Cold Spring
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cold Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
- Cold Spring is located in Franklin County
- Falling Spring
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falling Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Spring
- Falling Spring is located in Franklin County
- Five Forks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Franklin County
- Fountain Dale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fountain Dale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Dale
- Fountain Dale is located in Adams County
- Fox Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Gladhill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Greenwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Hilltown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Iron Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iron Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Springs
- Iron Springs is located in Adams County
- Jacks Mountain
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacks Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacks Mountain
- Jacks Mountain is located in Adams County
- Continue List (11 more) ...
- Jugtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Maria Furnace
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maria Furnace have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maria Furnace
- Maria Furnace is located in Adams County
- Marshall
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Mount Hope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Adams County
- Pond Bank
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Roadside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Slabtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Tartown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Tomstown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Trust
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Virginia Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Mills
- Virginia Mills is located in Adams County
- Jugtown
How Far From South Mountain to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as South Mountain to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in South Mountain and extending to:
- Chambersburg, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from South Mountain to Chambersburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 44 miles [70.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 69 miles [111 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,876 miles [9,456.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,586 miles [10,599.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,462 miles [7,180.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for South Mountain. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Franklin County: www.co.franklin.pa.us/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 South Mountain 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. |
| <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- South Mountain) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in South Mountain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8465, Longitude: -77.4878 In this case, the coordinates for South Mountain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 South Mountain to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.096 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.82 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.539 degrees. |