Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Lake
- 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 West Lake:
- 30.502993, -83.114583
- 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 West Lake
- 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 Hamilton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hamilton County
- Since West Lake is near Suwannee County and also Lowndes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Suwannee County
- eBird sighting report for Lowndes 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 West Lake ...
We found six communities that share the name West Lake.
Within Florida, the name West Lake is unique.
Beyond Florida, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, four are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Ontario
- This West Lake lies 980 miles [1,577.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the West Lake that is located in Hamilton County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Lake ...
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.
- Crossroads
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
- Crossroads is located in Hamilton County
- Herring
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Hillcoat
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Jasper
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jasper
- Jasper is located in Hamilton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,163 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jasper <4>
- Jennings
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
- Jennings is located in Hamilton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 869 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jennings <4>
- Kennedy Still
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedy Still have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy Still
- Kennedy Still is located in Hamilton County
- Lee
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
- Lee is located in Madison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 333 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee <4>
- Marion
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Potter
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Twin Lakes
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in Lowndes County (GA)
How Far From West Lake 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 West Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Lake and extending to:
- Jasper, which is the Seat of Hamilton County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from West Lake to Jasper, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 69 miles [111 km] to the west (W). 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 674 miles [1,084.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,533 miles [10,513.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,217 miles [11,614.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,105 miles [8,215.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hamilton County: www.hamiltoncountyflorida.com/
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- West Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.5030, Longitude: -83.1146 In this case, the coordinates for West Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 West Lake 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 West Lake to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.36 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.193 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.566 degrees. |