Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Balboa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balboa and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Balboa
- 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 Balboa:
- 36.032571, -91.500415
- 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 Balboa
- 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 Sharp County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Sharp County
- Since Balboa is near Independence County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Independence County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Balboa ...
We found one communities that share the name Balboa.
Within Arkansas, the name Balboa is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, there is another community also named Balboa in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Balboa ...
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.
- Amateur ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Cave City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cave City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave City
- Cave City is located in Independence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,923 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cave City <3>
- Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Evening Shade
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evening Shade have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evening Shade
- Evening Shade is located in Sharp County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 442 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evening Shade <3>
- Hickory Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Valley
- Hickory Valley is located in Independence County
- King's Mills ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for King's Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King's Mills
- King's Mills is located in Sharp County
- Maxville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Needmore
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Reed ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Sandtown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Strawberry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
- Strawberry is located in Lawrence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
How Far From Balboa 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 Balboa to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Balboa once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Balboa and extending to:
- Ash Flat, which is the Seat of Sharp County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Balboa to Ash Flat, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 816 miles [1,313.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,616 miles [10,647.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,346 miles [11,822.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,224 miles [8,407.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Sharp County: www.sharpcounty.org
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.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- Balboa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Balboa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0326, Longitude: -91.5004 In this case, the coordinates for Balboa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Balboa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Balboa to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.78 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.222 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.793 degrees. |