RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Jackson County >> Cow Lake >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cow Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cow Lake 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 Cow Lake:
    • 35.457861, -91.057066
    • 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 Cow Lake
  • 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Cow Lake is near Cross County and also Poinsett County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cross County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Poinsett 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 Cow Lake

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cow Lake ...

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.

  • Eightmile ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Eightmile is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eightmile
  • Erwin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Erwin is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwin
  • Fisher
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fisher is located in Poinsett County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
  • Gourd Neck
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Gourd Neck is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gourd Neck
  • Hickory Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hickory Ridge is located in Cross County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
  • Horseshoe
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Horseshoe is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe
  • Johnstown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Johnstown is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
  • Murphys Corner
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Murphys Corner is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphys Corner
  • Overcup
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Overcup is located in Woodruff County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overcup
  • Pumpkin Bend
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Pumpkin Bend is located in Woodruff County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Bend
  • Stringers Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Stringers Mill is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringers Mill

How Far From Cow Lake 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 Cow Lake 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<1> community of Cow Lake once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Cow Lake and extending to:

  • Newport, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Cow Lake to Newport, 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.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 84 miles [135.2 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 806 miles [1,297.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,628 miles [10,666.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,355 miles [11,836.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,232 miles [8,420.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Cow Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Cow Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Cow Lake 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 Cow Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4579, Longitude: -91.0571       In this case, the coordinates for Cow Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.453 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.766 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.704 degrees.