Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Altus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Altus and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Altus
- 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 Altus:
- 34.341054, -89.395009
- 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 Altus
- 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 Lafayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lafayette County
- Since Altus is near Pontotoc County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pontotoc County
- eBird sighting report for Union 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 Altus ...
We found five communities that share the name Altus.
Within Mississippi, the name Altus is unique.
Beyond Mississippi, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Altus ...
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.
- Cornish
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Denmark
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Dogtown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Keel
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Molly Barr Cove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Molly Barr Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Molly Barr Cove
- Molly Barr Cove is located in Lafayette County
- Rolling Woods
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolling Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Woods
- Rolling Woods is located in Lafayette County
- Rollings Woods
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rollings Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollings Woods
- Rollings Woods is located in Lafayette County
- University
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University
- University is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for University <5>
How Far From Altus 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 Altus to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Altus and extending to:
- Oxford, which is the Seat of Lafayette County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 147 miles [236.6 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Altus to Jackson, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 752 miles [1,210.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,617 miles [10,649 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,337 miles [11,807.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,212 miles [8,387.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Altus. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Altus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Altus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3411, Longitude: -89.3950 In this case, the coordinates for Altus 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Altus 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> | 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 Altus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Altus to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.32 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.303 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.199 degrees. |