Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Tara, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tara and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Tara
- 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 Tara:
- 34.633424, -86.532490
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Tara
- 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 Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Madison County
- Since Tara is near Morgan County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Morgan County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Tara ...
We found ten communities that share the name Tara.
Within Alabama, the name Tara is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Bibb County
- This Tara is located in Bibb County and lies 200 miles [321.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the Tara that is located in Madison County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bibb County community of Tara.
- Muscogee County
- This Tara is located in Muscogee County and lies 176 miles [283.2 km] to the south southeast of the Tara that is located in Madison County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muscogee County community of Tara.
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Anne Arundel County
- This Tara is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 622 miles [1,001 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Tara that is located in Madison County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Tara.
- Cecil County
- This Tara is located in Cecil County and lies 686 miles [1,104 km] to the east northeast of the Tara that is located in Madison County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cecil County community of Tara.
- Missouri
- North Dakota
- Ontario
- This Tara lies 737 miles [1,186.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Tara that is located in Madison County.
- Virginia
- Georgia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Tara ...
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.
- Bravo
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Camelot
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Chimney Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chimney Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Springs
- Chimney Springs is located in Madison County
- Double Tree
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Double Tree have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Tree
- Double Tree is located in Madison County
- English Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for English Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
- English Village is located in Madison County
- Forest Park
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
- Forest Park is located in Madison County
- Fox Run
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Huntsville Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huntsville Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville Hills
- Huntsville Hills is located in Madison County
- Meadow Trace
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Trace have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Trace
- Meadow Trace is located in Madison County
- Regent Forest
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Regent Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regent Forest
- Regent Forest is located in Madison County
- Sugar Tree
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Tree have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Tree
- Sugar Tree is located in Madison County
- Sunset Cove
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Cove
- Sunset Cove is located in Madison County
- Willow Bend
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Bend
- Willow Bend is located in Madison County
- Willowbrook
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willowbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook
- Willowbrook is located in Madison County
How Far From Tara 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 Tara to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Tara and extending to:
- Huntsville, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 156 miles [251.1 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Tara to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 601 miles [967.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,487 miles [10,439.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,199 miles [11,585.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,075 miles [8,167.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Tara. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Madison County: www.co.madison.al.us/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Tara) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Tara. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6334, Longitude: -86.5325 In this case, the coordinates for Tara have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Tara could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Tara to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.576 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.326 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.942 degrees. |