Twelve Mile Circle

  • Appalachian Trail Counties

    For a long time I’ve wondered what would happen if a county counter hiked the Appalachian Trail. I know that’s not a normal curiosity. I’m not the type of person to move in lockstep with everyone else though. However, I am not interested in walking the Appalachian Trail. I am sure the wonders and hardships…

  • St. John’s at Long Last

    I made an offer to the kind readers of Twelve Mile Circle back in September 2010. I said I’d be glad to explore and present geo-oddities for any location based on user suggestions. So I took this as a personal challenge and an opportunity to investigate areas that may have escaped my attention previously. “Katy”…

  • There’s a Juno in Texas but not in Alaska

    Did any Alaskan readers of Twelve Mile Circle watch the NBC Nightly News this evening? When did your state capital become Juno? I happened to be sort-of watching it in the background as I was working on an article I’ll post tomorrow. The story centered on a Next Generation air traffic control system using satellite…

  • Happy Holidays

    Twelve Mile Circle wishes you a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year. My many thanks to all of you for following the 12MC. I’ve had a great time presenting geo-oddities from around the world these last three years. I still find it surprising and gratifying to see that so many other people seem…

  • Right Up to the Line (again)

    This is my second attempt to present this article, following the debacle yesterday evening when I posted a rough outline. That was the first time I’d hit the publish button prematurely in nearly 500 articles. I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. Hopefully it didn’t cause too much confusion. The whole point of this…

  • Oops

    The latest post was a draft version — I accidentally hit the publish button while editing it. Please ignore and you’ll see the REAL version tomorrow.

  • Over the Road

    An image posted by reader Katy in a comment on my recent Tunnels, Bridges, Lifts and Inclines article completely captivated me. It shows a canal going over a road in the Netherlands. The interesting aspect, to me, is that a viewer can determine the actual depth of the canal. Highway engineers were kind enough to…

  • X to Nowhere

    There are many places that have been labeled a “[Name You Favorite Transportation Infrastructure] to Nowhere”. Sometimes they exist to reference an abandoned site. Other times they focus on an improvement that seemed to benefit an unusually small constituency. I’ll mention two rather well-known instances briefly today. Naturally I will ignore the political issues involved…

  • Journey Through Hallowed Ground

    The article is a bit self-indulgent today. A particular National Scenic Byway fascinated me for quite awhile. Aficionados call it the “Journey Through Hallowed Ground“. Much of my life centered on places along this 180-mile line. I’ve driven portions of it literally hundreds of times. I’ve also visited many but not all of the sites…

  • Fernando de Noronha

    Longtime reader “jlumsden” knows that I love to hear about the geo-adventures of my Twelve Mile Circle audience. Thankfully he’s kind enough to share some of his experiences with us. I haven’t encountered a lot of the world personally. That being the case, at least I can travel there vicariously through the adventures of others.…


Latest Comments

  1. what is the total population that lives now in the land given back to Virginia should it be part of…

  2. Park ranger at Chalmette (New Orleans) Battlefield let me pull up the Union Jack 20 years ago. My dad would…