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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wapwallopen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wapwallopen 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 Wapwallopen:
    • 41.074528, -76.130763
    • 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 Wapwallopen
  • 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 Luzerne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
    • Since Wapwallopen is near Columbia County and also Schuylkill County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuylkill 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 Wapwallopen

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wapwallopen ...

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.

  • Dogtown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Dogtown is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
  • Drums
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Fern Glen
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fern Glen is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Glen
  • Five Points
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Five Points is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Foundryville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Foundryville is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
  • Glen Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Glen Junction is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Junction
  • Gum Run
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Gum Run is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Run
  • Hobbie
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Hobbie is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbie
  • Lee
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lee is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
  • Mountain Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain Grove is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
  • Pond Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Pond Hill is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Hill
  • Rock Glen
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Rock Glen is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Glen
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Sand Spring
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Sand Spring is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Spring
    • Springtown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Springtown is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springtown
    • Stairville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Stairville is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stairville
    • Summer Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Summer Hill is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill
    • Tomhicken
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Tomhicken is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomhicken

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Wapwallopen and extending to:

  • Wilkes-Barre, which is the Seat of Luzerne County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wapwallopen to Wilkes-Barre, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 157 miles [252.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,768 miles [9,282.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,480 miles [10,428.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,355 miles [7,008.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wapwallopen) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Wapwallopen 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 Wapwallopen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0745, Longitude: -76.1308       In this case, the coordinates for Wapwallopen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.181 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.976 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.441 degrees.