Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bests, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bests and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bests
- 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 Bests:
- 33.731219, -92.602936
- 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 Bests
- 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 Ouachita County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Ouachita County
- Since Bests is near Calhoun County and also Dallas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- eBird sighting report for Dallas 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 Bests ...
We found two communities that share the name Bests.
Within Arkansas, the name Bests is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Ohio
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bests ...
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.
- Big Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Bucksnort
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Chambersville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chambersville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambersville
- Chambersville is located in Calhoun County
- Eagle Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Mills
- Eagle Mills is located in Ouachita County
- Ebenezer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Green Hall ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Hall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hall
- Green Hall is located in Calhoun County
- Harbour ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Harmony Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmony Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Harmony Grove is located in Ouachita County
- Holly Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Holly Springs is located in Dallas County
- Hopeville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeville
- Hopeville is located in Calhoun County
- Locust Bayou
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Bayou have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Bayou
- Locust Bayou is located in Calhoun County
How Far From Bests 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 Bests 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<3> community of Bests once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Bests and extending to:
- Camden, which is the Seat of Ouachita County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<4> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bests to Camden, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the north northeast (NNE). 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 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 935 miles [1,504.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,775 miles [10,903.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,501 miles [12,071.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,377 miles [8,653.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bests 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. |
| <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> | 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 Bests, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bests) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bests. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7312, Longitude: -92.6029 In this case, the coordinates for Bests have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bests 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 317.30 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.521 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.681 degrees. |