Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Old Bethel:
  • 34.581204, -87.523637
  • 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 Old Bethel

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

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Bethel ...

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.

• Cottontown
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cottontown is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottontown
• Edmond
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Edmond is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
• Flat Rock
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Flat Rock is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
• Hunter ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Hunter is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
• Littleville
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Littleville is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
• Mount Hope
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Mount Hope is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
• Mountain Star
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Mountain Star is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Star
• Needmore
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Needmore is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
• Oak Grove
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Oak Grove is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
• Poplar Creek ‑ Historic
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Poplar Creek is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
• Section
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Section is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Section
• Spring Valley
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Spring Valley is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
• Wolf Springs
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Wolf Springs is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Springs

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

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

• Tuscumbia, which is the Seat of Colbert County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Old Bethel to Tuscumbia, 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 167 miles [268.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 651 miles [1,047.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,530 miles [10,509 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,245 miles [11,659.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,121 miles [8,241.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'