Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lake Placid, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lake Placid and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lake Placid
- 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 Lake Placid:
- 27.295320, -81.360646
- 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 Lake Placid
- 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 Lake Placid is near Hardee County and also Glades County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hardee County
- eBird sighting report for Glades 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 Lake Placid ...
We found three communities that share the name Lake Placid.
Within Florida, the name Lake Placid is unique.
Beyond Florida, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- New York
- Essex County
- This Lake Placid is located in Essex County and lies 1,242 miles [1,998.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Lake Placid that is located in Highlands County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Essex County community of Lake Placid.
- Tennessee
- Chester County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Lake Placid [Chester County].
- Texas
- Guadalupe County
- Although located in Guadalupe County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guadalupe County community of Lake Placid.
- New York
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lake Placid ...
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
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Hollow
- Bear Hollow is located in Highlands County
- Childs
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Crewsville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crewsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
- Crewsville is located in Hardee County
- De Soto City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Soto City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto City
- De Soto City is located in Highlands County
- Fort Kissimmee
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Kissimmee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Kissimmee
- Fort Kissimmee is located in Okeechobee County
- Joshua
(23 miles [37 km] to the west) - Placid Lakes
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placid Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 northeast) - Sweetwater
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetwater have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Sweetwater is located in Hardee County
- Wild Island
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wild Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 Lake Placid 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 town such as Lake Placid to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Lake Placid and extending to:
- Sebring, which is the Seat of Highlands County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Lake Placid to Sebring, with an average speed<4> 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.
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 279 miles [449 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 838 miles [1,348.6 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 6,597 miles [10,616.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,258 miles [11,680.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,164 miles [8,310.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Lake Placid: www.lakeplacidfl.net/
The official website for Highlands County: www.hcbcc.net/
The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lake Placid) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Placid. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.2953, Longitude: -81.3606 |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Lake Placid 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. |
| <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 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 Lake Placid 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 310.207 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.417 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.684 degrees. |