How big is the Everfree Forest?

[Arcus (Silver Lining) Wind 983]

Just how big do you think the Everfree Forest is? Is it Like a timber area that you might find in the midwest or is it huge like yellowstone National Forest? Chould it be even bigger than that?

[Jokuc 8,173]

@,

This map was made by Hasbro themselves, if you look at it you can see that the Everfree forest is about double the size of Ponyville

[NavelColt 22,878]

Like Nibblers has shown, it's a forest split into three main sections, with a river running through some of it, and the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters near the bottom. As for if it could get bigger, my answer is yes, most likely. If you look carefully at the map, you'll notice that the forest has somewhat surrounded the Ruins *Royal Pony Sisters' Castle*. My guess is that a thousand years ago, back before Luna became Nightmare Moon and when Celestia and Luna ruled things happily after they defeated Discord, the Everfree Forest was smaller. That expanse that you see creeping around the ruined castle was probably not even there. Which would explain why the castle would have been built in this location in the first place, because a thousand years ago it was a nice patch of grass land, with a river next to it. Perfect for a settlement.

 

But a thousand years later, with the castle and area around it now vacant of pony inhabitants, the Everfree Forest has grown to engulf the castle's surroundings like an unkempt weed. That's my thoughts, anyway.

Edited September 26, 2012 by ~Chaotic Discord~

[koochi 5]

when I saw this map I thought: really? like really really? XD it's awsum and creepy at the same time how carefully they thought of it. Creepy as in... yu no need an explanation 4 that and awsum at how they named everything and even show the direction yu can go 2 meet the griffins so you know in future episodes that 'space' will be used

[joeyh3 153]

First, let's take a look at the canon map. There is a rail line directly between Ponyville and Appleloosa, with no visible stops along the way. Approximately half of this rail line runs along the outer edge of the Everfree Forest, before it crosses the Foggy Bottom Bogg and enters the Appleloosan Plains to complete the second half of the run.

 

"Over a Barrel" starts off with the cast on a train to Appleloosa, and the train has already entered the Appleloosan Plains. The time of day at the start of the episode was never given, but the color of the sky, combined with the fact that subsequent scenes take place aboard the train at night, would suggest that the episode opens in the early-to-mid evening, probably around 6:00PM. When the train arrives in town, Breaburn pushes the group into the main street of the town, and a clock tower in the background reveals the time to be 12:07PM. This means that about 18 hours have passed from the start of the episode to the time when the train arrives in town.

 

From here, we do have to make a few assumptions. These are:

1) The episode started immediately after the train crossed the Foggy Bottom Bogg.

2) The train crew took a fifteen minute break for every forty five minutes of motion.

3) The crew can run at a speed of 20Mph, which is considered around average for a gallop.

 

First, we need to figure out how much time the train spent in motion:

• Time elapsed * (number of minutes running per hour / number of minutes in an hour) = time in motion
• 18 hours * (45 Minutes / 60 Minutes) = time in motion
• 18 hours * .75 = time in motion
• 13.5 hours = time in motion

So between the start of the episode and time time the train arrived in town, the train was in motion for thirteen and a half hours. Next, we need to figure out the distance it traveled:

• Time in motion * speed = distance
• 13.5 hours * 20 miles/hour = distance
• 270 miles = distance

So the journey between Foggy Bottom Bogg and Appleloosa covered a distance of approximately 270 miles. Since this is about half of the track between Ponyville and Appleloosa, that means that the train also traveled along the outside edge of the Everfree Forest for about 270 miles as well.

 

The Everfree Forest has a roughly circular shape (and for the point of simplicity, let's just imagine it's a perfect circle, because it's done weirder things). Going back to the map, the track appears to run along approximately 40% of the circumference of the forest.

• 270 miles = 40% of circumference.
• 270 miles / 40% = circumference
• 675 miles = circumference

That means that in order to travel a complete lap around the Everfree, you will need to cover a distance of 675 miles. So now that we know the circumference of the forest, we need to calculate the area. To do that, we need to find the radius of the forest.

• Pi * diameter = circumference
• 3.14 * diameter = 675 miles
• 675 miles / 3.14 = diameter
• 214.97 miles = diameter
• (The diameter is two times the radius)
• Radius * 2 = 214.97 miles
• Radius = 214.97 miles/2
• Radius = 107.49 miles

This means that the Everfree Forest is approximately 215 miles across in every direction. But since we have the radius, we can calculate the area of the forest:

• Area = Pi * (R ^ 2)
• Area = 3.14 * (107.49 miles ^ 2)
• Area = 3.14 * 11554.10 square miles
• Area = 36,279.87 square miles

So, there you have it, the Everfree Forest is just over 36,000 square miles square miles, which makes it a little bit larger than the state of Maryland, or over three times the size of the entire New York Metropolitan Area.

 

I think... I'm a bit tired and ran though these calculations using three different sets of assumptions, so if anyone wants to double-check my math, that'd be awesome...

Edited September 27, 2012 by joeyh3