Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Parris, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Parris and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Parris
- 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 Parris:
- 33.252446, -96.603876
- 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 Parris
- 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 Collin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Collin County
- Since Parris is near Grayson County and also Denton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grayson County
- eBird sighting report for Denton 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 Parris ...
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.
- Allen
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Allen is located in Collin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109,379 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <2>
- Anna
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anna
- Anna is located in Collin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,945 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anna <2>
- Biggers ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Branch
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Chambersville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chambersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambersville
- Chambersville is located in Collin County
- Climax
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Forest Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
- Forest Grove is located in Collin County
- Kelly
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Lucas
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Prosper
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prosper have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosper
- Prosper is located in Collin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,957 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prosper <2>
- Rockhill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockhill
- Rockhill is located in Collin County
- Trinity Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trinity Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity Park
- Trinity Park is located in Collin County
How Far From Parris to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Parris to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Parris and extending to:
- McKinney, which is the Seat of Collin County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 216 miles [347.6 km]<3> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Parris to Austin, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,156 miles [1,860.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 66 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,952 miles [11,188.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,687 miles [12,371 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,566 miles [8,957.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Parris. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Collin County: www.co.collin.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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> | 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- Parris) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Parris. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2524, Longitude: -96.6039 |
| <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 Parris 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 319.871 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.464 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.518 degrees. |