RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Cambria County >> Tunnelhill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tunnelhill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tunnelhill 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 Tunnelhill:
    • 40.475349, -78.543627
    • 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 Tunnelhill
  • 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 Cambria County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cambria County
    • Since Tunnelhill is near Blair County and also Bedford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blair County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bedford 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 Tunnelhill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tunnelhill ...

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.

  • Bens Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bens Creek is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bens Creek
  • Chest Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Chest Springs is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chest Springs
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
  • Coupon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Coupon is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coupon
  • Cross Keys
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Cross Keys is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
  • Eldorado
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Eldorado is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
  • Foot of Ten
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Foot of Ten is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foot of Ten
  • Greenfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Greenfield is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
  • Jamestown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jamestown is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
  • Lower Dutchtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lower Dutchtown is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Dutchtown
  • Mill Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Mill Run is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Run
  • Munster
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Munster is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munster
  • Oil City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Oil City is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Plane Bank
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Plane Bank is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plane Bank
    • Puzzletown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Puzzletown is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puzzletown
    • Shoemaker
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Shoemaker is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoemaker
    • Stiffler
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Stiffler is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stiffler
    • Sunbrook
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunbrook is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbrook
    • Wildwood Springs
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wildwood Springs is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Springs

How Far From Tunnelhill 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 community such as Tunnelhill to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Tunnelhill and extending to:

  • Ebensburg, which is the Seat of Cambria County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Tunnelhill to Ebensburg, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 88 miles [141.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 135 miles [217.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,893 miles [9,483.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,608 miles [10,634.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,483 miles [7,214.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Tunnelhill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Tunnelhill 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 Tunnelhill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4753, Longitude: -78.5436       In this case, the coordinates for Tunnelhill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.694 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.595 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.76 degrees.