Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hen Scratch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hen Scratch and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Hen Scratch

• 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 Hen Scratch:
  • 27.312544, -81.468408
  • 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 Hen Scratch

• 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:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Highlands County
  • Since Hen Scratch is near Hardee County and also DeSoto County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Hardee County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for DeSoto 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 Hen Scratch

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hen Scratch ...

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.

• Bear Hollow
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Bear Hollow is located in Highlands County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Hollow
• Childs
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Childs is located in Highlands County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
• Crewsville
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Crewsville is located in Hardee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
• De Soto City
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • De Soto City is located in Highlands County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto City
• Joshua
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Joshua is located in DeSoto County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua
• Placid Lakes
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Placid Lakes is located in Highlands County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placid Lakes
• Plains
  (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Plains is located in Highlands County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plains
• Sweetwater
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Sweetwater is located in Hardee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
• Wild Island
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Wild Island is located in Highlands County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Island

How Far From Hen Scratch 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 Hen Scratch to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Hen Scratch and extending to:

• Sebring, which is the Seat of Highlands County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Hen Scratch to Sebring, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
• Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 274 miles [441 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 839 miles [1,350.2 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,601 miles [10,623.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,263 miles [11,688.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,168 miles [8,317.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'