Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ball Flat, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ball Flat and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ball Flat
- 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 Ball Flat:
- 34.017949, -85.733661
- 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 Ball Flat
- 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 Cherokee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
- Since Ball Flat is near Etowah County and also Calhoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Etowah County
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Ball Flat ...
We found one communities that share the name Ball Flat.
There is one other community in Alabama which is also named Ball Flat.
Beyond Alabama.
- Communities Located In Alabama ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ball Flat ...
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.
- Ballplay
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballplay
- Ballplay is located in Etowah County
- Centre
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre
- Centre is located in Cherokee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,616 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Centre <2>
- Coat's Bend
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Couch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Dixon Shop
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dixon Shop have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon Shop
- Dixon Shop is located in Cherokee County
- Frog Mountain
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frog Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Mountain
- Frog Mountain is located in Cherokee County
- Gnatville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Hokes Bluff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hokes Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hokes Bluff
- Hokes Bluff is located in Etowah County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,240 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hokes Bluff <2>
- Hokes Bluff Ferry
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hokes Bluff Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hokes Bluff Ferry
- Hokes Bluff Ferry is located in Etowah County
- Irene ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Kings Hill ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kings Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Hill
- Kings Hill is located in Cherokee County
- Luke
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Continue List (8 more) ...
- Maple Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Maple Grove is located in Cherokee County
- Maxwellborn
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxwellborn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwellborn
- Maxwellborn is located in Calhoun County
- Millie ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Mink ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Pope
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Prices
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Wood Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wood Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Ferry
- Wood Ferry is located in Cherokee County
- Maple Grove
How Far From Ball Flat 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 Ball Flat to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Ball Flat and extending to:
- Centre, which is the Seat of Cherokee County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<4> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ball Flat to Centre, with an average speed<5> 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 117 miles [188.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 588 miles [946.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,483 miles [10,433.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,191 miles [11,572.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,067 miles [8,154.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ball Flat. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Ball Flat 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | 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- Ball Flat) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ball Flat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0179, Longitude: -85.7337 In this case, the coordinates for Ball Flat 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 Ball Flat 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 313.063 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.649 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.757 degrees. |