Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 McKestes:
  • 34.397590, -85.894694
  • 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 McKestes

• 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 DeKalb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
  • Since McKestes is near Jackson County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 McKestes

Curious and Interesting Names Near McKestes ...

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.

• Bootsville
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bootsville is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootsville
• Chigger Hill
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Chigger Hill is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Hill
• Clyde ‑ Historic
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Clyde is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
• Geraldine
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Geraldine is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geraldine
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geraldine <1>
• Gilbert Crossroads
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Gilbert Crossroads is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert Crossroads
• Guest
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Guest is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guest
• Hix ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Hix is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hix
• Hughes Mill
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Hughes Mill is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes Mill
• Lakeview
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Lakeview is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
• Luna ‑ Historic
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Luna is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
• Lydia
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Lydia is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
• Peeks Corner
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Peeks Corner is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peeks Corner
• Pleasant Hill
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Pleasant Hill is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
• Portersville
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Portersville is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville

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

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

• Fort Payne, which is the Seat of DeKalb County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from McKestes to Fort Payne, 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 141 miles [226.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 580 miles [933.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,472 miles [10,415.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,182 miles [11,558.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,058 miles [8,140.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'