Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Racket Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Racket Ridge and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Racket Ridge
- 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 Racket Ridge:
- 35.546745, -92.645995
- 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 Racket Ridge
- 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 Van Buren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
- Since Racket Ridge is near Conway County and also Pope County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Conway County
- eBird sighting report for Pope 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Racket Ridge ...
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.
- Butter Creek ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butter Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butter Creek
- Butter Creek is located in Van Buren County
- Crabtree
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crabtree
- Crabtree is located in Van Buren County
- Edge ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Gravel Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gravel Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
- Gravel Hill is located in Van Buren County
- Liberty Springs ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Springs
- Liberty Springs is located in Van Buren County
- Old Liberty ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Liberty have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Liberty
- Old Liberty is located in Van Buren County
- Pine Mountain ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain
- Pine Mountain is located in Van Buren County
- Pleasant Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- 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 Van Buren County
- Scotland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
- Scotland is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scotland <2>
- Walnut Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Van Buren County
- Williams Gulf ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williams Gulf have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Gulf
- Williams Gulf is located in Van Buren County
How Far From Racket Ridge to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Racket Ridge 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 Racket Ridge once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Racket Ridge and extending to:
- Clinton, which is the Seat of Van Buren County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Racket Ridge to Clinton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 59 miles [95 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 887 miles [1,427.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,684 miles [10,756.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,416 miles [11,934.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,294 miles [8,519.9 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> | 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 Racket Ridge, 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' (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- Racket Ridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Racket Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5467, Longitude: -92.6460 In this case, the coordinates for Racket Ridge 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 Racket Ridge 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 317.489 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.98 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.398 degrees. |