Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dona, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dona and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dona
- 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 Dona:
- 32.020443, -93.876298
- 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 Dona
- 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 parish-by-parish basis. We have selected De Soto Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for De Soto Parish
- Since Dona is near Shelby County and also Panola County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- eBird sighting report for Panola 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 Dona ...
We found two communities that share the name Dona.
Within Louisiana, the name Dona is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- New Mexico
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dona ...
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.
- Coker
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Cook ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Grand Cane
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Cane
- Grand Cane is located in De Soto Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 238 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Cane <3>
- Hunter
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Longstreet
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longstreet have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longstreet
- Longstreet is located in De Soto Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Longstreet <3>
- Porter Place
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porter Place have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Place
- Porter Place is located in De Soto Parish
- Screamerville ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Screamerville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamerville
- Screamerville is located in De Soto Parish
- Spider ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Stanley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Wood Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wood Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Springs
- Wood Springs is located in De Soto Parish
How Far From Dona 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 Dona to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Dona once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Dona and extending to:
- Mansfield, which is the Seat of De Soto Parish, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Dona to Mansfield, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 193 miles [310.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,057 miles [1,701.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 60 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,912 miles [11,123.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,636 miles [12,289 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,511 miles [8,869.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Dona) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dona. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0204, Longitude: -93.8763 In this case, the coordinates for Dona have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Dona, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Dona to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.933 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.035 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.475 degrees. |