Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Mountain Star:
  • 34.541483, -87.653641
  • 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 Mountain Star

• 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
  • Since Mountain Star is near Colbert County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Mountain Star

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mountain Star ...

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.

• Flatwoods
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Flatwoods is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
• Good Springs
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Good Springs is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Springs
• Gravel Hill
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Gravel Hill is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
• Hunter ‑ Historic
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Hunter is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
• Lime Rock
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lime Rock is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Rock
• Littleville
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Littleville is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
• Pleasant Ridge
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Ridge is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
• Reedtown
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Reedtown is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedtown
• Waco
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Waco is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
• White House Springs
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • White House Springs is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White House Springs
• Woodlawn Heights
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Woodlawn Heights is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights

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

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

• Russellville, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies just to the West Southwest.
• Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 168 miles [270.4 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Mountain Star to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 659 miles [1,060.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,537 miles [10,520.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,253 miles [11,672.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,128 miles [8,252.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'