Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blanchard Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blanchard Springs and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blanchard Springs
- 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 Blanchard Springs:
- 33.026382, -92.666801
- 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 Blanchard Springs
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since Blanchard Springs is near Union Parish and also Claiborne Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Union Parish
- eBird sighting report for Claiborne Parish
- 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blanchard Springs ...
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.
- Cherry Ridge ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Ridge
- Cherry Ridge is located in Union Parish (LA)
- El Dorado
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Dorado
- El Dorado is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,402 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for El Dorado <2>
- Griffin ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Hebron
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Hunt
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Junction City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
- Junction City is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
- Pleasant Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Union County
- Randolph
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Scotland
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
- Scotland is located in Union County
- Spearsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spearsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearsville
- Spearsville is located in Union Parish (LA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spearsville <2>
- Three Creeks
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Creeks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Creeks
- Three Creeks is located in Union County
How Far From Blanchard Springs 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 Blanchard Springs 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 Blanchard Springs once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Blanchard Springs and extending to:
- El Dorado, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Blanchard Springs to El Dorado, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 120 miles [193.1 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 961 miles [1,546.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,813 miles [10,964.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,537 miles [12,129.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,412 miles [8,709.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Union County: www.co.union.ar.us/
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Blanchard Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Blanchard Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blanchard Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0264, Longitude: -92.6668 |
| <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 Blanchard Springs 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 317.271 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.393 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.817 degrees. |