RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Carolina >> Aiken County >> Beech Island >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Beech Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Beech Island 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 Beech Island:
    • 33.428167, -81.888587
    • 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 Beech Island
  • 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 Aiken County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Aiken County
    • Since Beech Island is near Richmond County and also Edgefield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richmond County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Edgefield 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 Beech Island

Curious and Interesting Names Near Beech Island ...

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.

  • Apple Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Apple Valley is located in Richmond County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Valley
  • Bath
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Clearwater
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Crestdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Crestdale is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestdale
  • Crestland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Crestland is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestland
  • Gordon Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Gordon Park is located in Richmond County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Park
  • Heathwood Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Heathwood Park is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heathwood Park
  • Hollow Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hollow Creek is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollow Creek
  • Horse Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Horse Creek is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Creek
  • Johnstown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Johnstown is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
  • Rose Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rose Hill is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
  • Sand Bar Ferry
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Sand Bar Ferry is located in Richmond County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Bar Ferry
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Schultz Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Schultz Hill is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schultz Hill
    • Spiderweb
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Spiderweb is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spiderweb
    • Summer Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Summer Hill is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill
    • Sunset Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset Heights is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Heights
    • Twiggs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Twiggs is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twiggs
    • Willow Springs Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Willow Springs Park is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs Park

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

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

  • Aiken, which is the Seat of Aiken County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Beech Island to Aiken, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 62 miles [99.8 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 about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 464 miles [746.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,346 miles [10,212.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,040 miles [11,329.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,922 miles [7,921.2 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Beech Island) 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 Beech Island 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 Beech Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4282, Longitude: -81.8886    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.797 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.956 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.41 degrees.