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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Highmound, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Highmound 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 Highmound:
- 34.143754, -86.378358
- 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 Highmound
- 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 Blount County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Blount County
- Since Highmound is near Marshall County and also Etowah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Etowah 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 Highmound
Curious and Interesting Names Near Highmound ...
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.
- Big Spring ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Big Spring is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
- Bright Star
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Clarence
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Craig
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Fowler ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Fowler is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
- Fridays Crossing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- New Home
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- New Home is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Home
- Nixon Chapel
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Nixon Chapel is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixon Chapel
- Old Snead
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Old Snead is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Snead
- Reedbrake ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
- Susan Moore
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Walnut Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Highmound 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 Highmound to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Highmound and extending to:
- Oneonta, which is the Seat of Blount County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Highmound to Oneonta, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 122 miles [196.3 km] to the south (S). 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 613 miles [986.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,504 miles [10,467.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,214 miles [11,609.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,090 miles [8,191.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Highmound) 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 Highmound 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 Highmound. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1438, Longitude: -86.3784 |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.457 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.121 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.989 degrees. |
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