RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Chilton County >> Falakto >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Falakto:
    • 32.804849, -86.594147
    • 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 Falakto
  • 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 Chilton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chilton County
    • Since Falakto is near Coosa County and also Autauga County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coosa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Autauga 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 Falakto

Curious and Interesting Names Near Falakto ...

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.

  • Cooper
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cooper is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
  • Enterprise
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Enterprise is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Gap of the Mountain
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Gap of the Mountain is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gap of the Mountain
  • Highland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Highland is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Houses Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Houses Ferry is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houses Ferry
  • Knights Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Knights Ferry is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Ferry
  • Mineral Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Mineral Springs is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
  • Mountain Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain Creek is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Creek
  • Pools Crossroads
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Pools Crossroads is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pools Crossroads

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Falakto and extending to:

  • Clanton, which is the Seat of Chilton County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 34 miles [54.7 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Falakto to Montgomery, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 679 miles [1,092.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,577 miles [10,584.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,282 miles [11,719.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,159 miles [8,302.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Falakto) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Falakto to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Falakto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8048, Longitude: -86.5941       In this case, the coordinates for Falakto have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.506 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.992 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.364 degrees.