Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Balkum, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balkum and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Balkum

• 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 Balkum:
  • 31.417672, -85.227432
  • 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.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Balkum

• 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 Henry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry County
  • Since Balkum is near Houston County and also Early County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Houston County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Early 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Balkum

Curious and Interesting Names Near Balkum ...

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.

• Barber
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Barber is located in Houston County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber
• Freeman
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Freeman is located in Early County (GA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
• Graball
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Graball is located in Henry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graball
  • Former names for Graball:
  • Hart's Crossroads
  • Hudspeth's Crossroads
• Headland
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Headland is located in Henry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Headland
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,748 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Headland <1>
• Hebron
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Hebron is located in Henry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
• Pleasant Hill ‑ Historic
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Pleasant Hill is located in Early County (GA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
• Pleasant Plains
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant Plains is located in Houston County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
• Rock Hill
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Rock Hill is located in Early County (GA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
  • Population from the 2010 Census: 248 people
• Shorterville
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Shorterville is located in Henry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorterville
• Union
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Union is located in Henry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union

How Far From Balkum 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 Balkum to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Balkum and extending to:

• Abbeville, which is the Seat of Henry County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Balkum to Abbeville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
• Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 91 miles [146.5 km] to the northwest (NW). 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 6 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 692 miles [1,113.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 40 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,584 miles [10,595.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,279 miles [11,714.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,160 miles [8,304.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'