RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> King County >> Highlands Park >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Highlands Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Highlands Park 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 Highlands Park:
    • 47.494822, -122.182343
    • 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 Highlands Park
  • 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 King County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King County
    • Since Highlands Park is near Kitsap County and also Pierce County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kitsap County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pierce 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 Highlands Park

Communities Also Named Highlands Park ...

We found one communities that are also named Highlands Park.

Within Washington, the name Highlands Park is unique.

Beyond Washington, there is another community also named Highlands Park in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Indiana
      • Kosciusko County
      • This Highlands Park is located in Kosciusko County and lies 1,828 miles [2,941.9 km]<1> to the east of the Highlands Park that is located in King County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kosciusko County community of Highlands Park.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Highlands Park ...

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.

  • Cascade
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Cascade is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Coal Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Coal Creek is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
  • Cougar Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cougar Hills is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cougar Hills
  • High Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • High Valley is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Valley
  • Hillman City ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillman City is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman City
  • Hilltop
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hilltop is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Kennydale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Kennydale is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennydale
  • Lake Desire
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Desire is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Desire
  • Maple Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Maple Hills is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hills
  • Maple Valley Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Maplewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Maplewood is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Maplewood Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Maplewood Heights is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Heights
  • May Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • May Creek is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May Creek
  • Skyway
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Skyway is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyway

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Highlands Park and extending to:

  • Seattle, which is the Seat of King County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Highlands Park to Seattle, 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.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 46 miles [74 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 2,313 miles [3,722.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,778 miles [10,908.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,540 miles [12,134.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,662 miles [9,112.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Highlands Park) 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 Highlands Park 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 Highlands Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.4948, Longitude: -122.1823       In this case, the coordinates for Highlands Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.744 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.273 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.668 degrees.