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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Southlake:
    • 33.363166, -86.773321
    • 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 Southlake
  • 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Southlake is near Jefferson County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa 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 Southlake

Communities Also Named Southlake ...

We found one communities that are also named Southlake.

Within Alabama, the name Southlake is unique.

Beyond Alabama, there is another community also named Southlake in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Texas
      • Tarrant County
      • This Southlake is located in Tarrant County and lies 600 miles [965.6 km]<1> to the west of the Southlake that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tarrant County community of Southlake.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Southlake ...

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.

  • Cedar Crest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Chapel Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Chestnut Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
  • Fungo Hollow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Fungo Hollow is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fungo Hollow
  • Havenview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Havenview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havenview
  • Heritage Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Heritage Oaks is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Oaks
  • Hickory Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hickory Ridge is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
  • Hoover
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hoover is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoover
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 85,959 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoover <2>
  • Indian Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Indian Hills is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Indian Springs Ranch
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Indian Springs Ranch is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Ranch
  • Indian Springs Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Indian Springs Village is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Village
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,628 people
  • Indian Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Indian Valley is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Valley
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Ivy Chase
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ivy Chase is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Chase
    • Longleaf
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Longleaf is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longleaf
    • Meadow Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Meadow Ridge is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Ridge
    • Polo Trace
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Polo Trace is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo Trace
    • Quail Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Quail Run is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Rocky Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Rocky Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
    • Royal Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Royal Oaks is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oaks
    • Sky Ranch
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Sky Ranch is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Ranch
    • Sunnymeadows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunnymeadows is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnymeadows
    • Valley Station
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Valley Station is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Station
    • Wine Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Wine Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wine Ridge

How Far From Southlake to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Southlake to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Southlake and extending to:

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Southlake to Columbiana, with an average speed<3> 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 73 miles [117.5 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 663 miles [1,067 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,558 miles [10,554.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,266 miles [11,693.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,142 miles [8,275.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Southlake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Southlake 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 Southlake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3632, Longitude: -86.7733       In this case, the coordinates for Southlake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.649 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.235 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.318 degrees.