RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> White County >> Velvet Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Velvet Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Velvet Ridge 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 Velvet Ridge:
    • 35.413138, -91.576246
    • 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 Velvet 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 White County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for White County
    • Since Velvet Ridge is near Jackson County and also Independence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Independence 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 Velvet Ridge

Communities Also Named Velvet Ridge ...

We found one communities that are also named Velvet Ridge.

Within Arkansas, the name Velvet Ridge is unique.

Beyond Arkansas, there is another community also named Velvet Ridge in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Velvet Ridge is located in Baltimore County and lies 858 miles [1,380.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Velvet Ridge that is located in White County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Velvet Ridge.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Velvet 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.

  • Bald Knob
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Clear Water ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Clear Water is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Water
  • Denmark
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Denmark is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
  • Dewey
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Dewey is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
  • Liberty Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Liberty Valley is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Valley
  • Little Red
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Little Red is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Red
  • Plainview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Plainview is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
  • Pleasant Plains
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Plains is located in Independence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 356 people
  • Possum Grape
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Possum Grape is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possum Grape
  • Providence
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Providence is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Short ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Short is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
  • Steprock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Steprock is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steprock
  • Twentythree
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Twentythree is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twentythree
  • Union Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Union Hill is located in Independence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill

How Far From Velvet Ridge 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 Velvet Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Velvet Ridge and extending to:

  • Searcy, which is the Seat of White County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Velvet Ridge to Searcy, 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 60 miles [96.6 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 834 miles [1,342.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,650 miles [10,702.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,378 miles [11,873.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,255 miles [8,457.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Velvet Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Velvet Ridge 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 Velvet Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4131, Longitude: -91.5762       In this case, the coordinates for Velvet Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.784 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.144 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.943 degrees.