Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alvis, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alvis and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alvis
- 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 Alvis:
- 35.938962, -91.717365
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Alvis
- 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 Independence County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Independence County
- Since Alvis is near Izard County and also Sharp County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Izard County
- eBird sighting report for Sharp 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alvis ...
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.
- Bone Town
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Cave City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cave City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave City
- Cave City is located in Independence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,923 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cave City <2>
- Evening Shade
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evening Shade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evening Shade
- Evening Shade is located in Sharp County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 442 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evening Shade <2>
- Hickory Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Valley
- Hickory Valley is located in Independence County
- Limedale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Limedale Junction
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Limedale Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limedale Junction
- Limedale Junction is located in Independence County
- Maxville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Meadow Heights
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Heights
- Meadow Heights is located in Independence County
- Mount Pleasant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Izard County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 415 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Pleasant <2>
- Needmore
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Phosphate ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Sage
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sage
- Sage is located in Izard County
- Sandtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Zion
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
How Far From Alvis to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Alvis to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Alvis once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Alvis and extending to:
- Batesville, which is the Seat of Independence County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Alvis to Batesville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 88 miles [141.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 829 miles [1,334.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,629 miles [10,668.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,359 miles [11,843.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,237 miles [8,428.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Alvis, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alvis) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alvis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9390, Longitude: -91.7174 In this case, the coordinates for Alvis have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Alvis to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.914 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.365 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.908 degrees. |