Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Retta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Retta and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Retta
- 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 Retta:
- 35.516747, -92.949059
- 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 Retta
- 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 Pope County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pope County
- Since Retta is near Van Buren County and also Conway County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
- eBird sighting report for Conway 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 Retta ...
We found three communities that share the name Retta.
Within Arkansas, the name Retta is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Retta ...
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.
- Boiling Springs ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boiling Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Springs
- Boiling Springs is located in Pope County
- Hector
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hector
- Hector is located in Pope County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 465 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hector <4>
- Lost Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lost Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Corner
- Lost Corner is located in Pope County
- Okay ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Rock Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Rock Springs is located in Pope County
- Solo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Tag
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Walnut Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Pope County
- Welcome
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Retta 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 Retta 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<5> community of Retta once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Retta and extending to:
- Russellville, which is the Seat of Pope County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Retta to Russellville, with an average speed<6> 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 6 hours.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 66 miles [106.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 904 miles [1,454.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,697 miles [10,777.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,429 miles [11,955.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,308 miles [8,542.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
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 Retta 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Retta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Retta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5167, Longitude: -92.9491 In this case, the coordinates for Retta have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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 Retta, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Retta to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.685 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.203 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.54 degrees. |