Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in South Plains, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Plains and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for South Plains
- 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 South Plains:
- 34.841485, -90.996508
- 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 South Plains
- 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 Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lee County
- Since South Plains is near Saint Francis County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Francis County
- eBird sighting report for Monroe 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
Communities Also Named South Plains ...
We found two communities that share the name South Plains.
Within Arkansas, the name South Plains is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Texas
- Floyd County
- This South Plains is located in Floyd County and lies 587 miles [944.7 km]<1> to the west of the South Plains that is located in Lee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of South Plains.
- Virginia
- Prince George County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of South Plains [Prince George County].
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near South Plains ...
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.
- Blossom
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Four Forks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Forks
- Four Forks is located in Lee County
- Four Gums
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Gill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Hopper
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Little Prairie ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Prairie
- Little Prairie is located in Lee County
- Palestine
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
- Palestine is located in Saint Francis County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 564 people
- Posey
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Rich
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Spring Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Spring Creek is located in Lee County
- Stoops ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
How Far From South Plains 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 South Plains to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in South Plains and extending to:
- Marianna, which is the Seat of Lee County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from South Plains to Marianna, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the west (W). 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 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 819 miles [1,318.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,656 miles [10,711.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,381 miles [11,878.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,257 miles [8,460.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for South Plains. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- South Plains) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in South Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8415, Longitude: -90.9965 In this case, the coordinates for South Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that South Plains could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 South Plains to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.369 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.585 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.792 degrees. |