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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Vandergrift, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Vandergrift and the surrounding area.
- 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 West Vandergrift:
- 40.600621, -79.583656
- 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 West Vandergrift
- 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 Westmoreland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
- Since West Vandergrift is near Armstrong County and also Allegheny County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Armstrong County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny 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 West Vandergrift
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Vandergrift ...
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.
- Apollo
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Cherry Lane
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cherry Lane is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Lane
- Georgetown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Georgetown is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Hungry Hollow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Hungry Hollow is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hungry Hollow
- Leechburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Oklahoma
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Oklahoma is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oklahoma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 739 people
- Orchard Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
- Pleasant View
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Pleasant View is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- River View
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- River View is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
- Vandergrift
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
How Far From West Vandergrift 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 West Vandergrift to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in West Vandergrift and extending to:
- Greensburg, which is the Seat of Westmoreland County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from West Vandergrift to Greensburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 143 miles [230.1 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 179 miles [288.1 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,930 miles [9,543.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,648 miles [10,698.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,523 miles [7,279.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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' (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- West Vandergrift) 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 West Vandergrift 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 West Vandergrift. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6006, Longitude: -79.5837 In this case, the coordinates for West Vandergrift have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.324 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.329 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.179 degrees. |
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