Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in De Soto City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to De Soto City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for De Soto City
- 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 De Soto City:
- 27.442538, -81.405073
- 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 De Soto City
- 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 Highlands County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Highlands County
- Since De Soto City is near Hardee County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hardee County
- eBird sighting report for Polk 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 De Soto City ...
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.
- Alpine
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Alpine is located in Highlands County
- Bear Hollow
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Hollow
- Bear Hollow is located in Highlands County
- Childs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south) - Crewsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crewsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
- Crewsville is located in Hardee County
- Fort Kissimmee
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Kissimmee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Kissimmee
- Fort Kissimmee is located in Okeechobee County
- Lemon Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lemon Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemon Grove
- Lemon Grove is located in Hardee County
- Placid Lakes
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placid Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placid Lakes
- Placid Lakes is located in Highlands County
- Plains
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east) - Sweetwater
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetwater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Sweetwater is located in Hardee County
- Wild Island
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wild Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Island
- Wild Island is located in Highlands County
How Far From De Soto City 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 De Soto City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in De Soto City and extending to:
- Sebring, which is the Seat of Highlands County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<3> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from De Soto City to Tallahassee, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 830 miles [1,335.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,593 miles [10,610.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,255 miles [11,675.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,160 miles [8,304.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for De Soto City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Highlands County: www.hcbcc.net/
The official website for State of Florida: https://www.myflorida.com/
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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | 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- De Soto City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in De Soto City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.4425, Longitude: -81.4051 In this case, the coordinates for De Soto City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 De Soto City to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.24 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.476 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.667 degrees. |