Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lake Charles, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lake Charles and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lake Charles
- 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 Charles:
- 30.212990, -93.218750
- 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 Charles
- 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 Calcasieu Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calcasieu Parish
- Since Lake Charles is near Cameron Parish and also Jefferson Davis Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cameron Parish
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson Davis Parish
- 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 Charles ...
We found three communities that share the name Lake Charles.
Within Louisiana, the name Lake Charles is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Hillsborough County
- This Lake Charles is located in Hillsborough County and lies 663 miles [1,067 km]<1> to the east of the Lake Charles that is located in Calcasieu Parish.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Lake Charles.
- New York
- Putnam 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 New York community of Lake Charles [Putnam County].
- Ontario
- This Lake Charles lies 1,203 miles [1,936 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Lake Charles that is located in Calcasieu Parish.
- Florida
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lake Charles ...
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.
- Bridge Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridge Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridge Junction
- Bridge Junction is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Chloe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Harbor
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Lockmoor
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Mallard Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mallard Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard Junction
- Mallard Junction is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Maplewood
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Mossville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Prairieland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairieland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieland
- Prairieland is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Rose Bluff
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Bluff
- Rose Bluff is located in Calcasieu Parish
- University Place
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Place
- University Place is located in Calcasieu Parish
How Far From Lake Charles to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Lake Charles to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Lake Charles and extending to:
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 124 miles [199.6 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Lake Charles to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,095 miles [1,762.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 43 days and walking would take 63 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,978 miles [11,230 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,693 miles [12,380.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,569 miles [8,962.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Lake Charles: www.cityoflakecharles.com/
The official website for Calcasieu Parish: www.cppj.net/
The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lake Charles) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Charles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.2130, Longitude: -93.2188 |
| <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 Lake Charles 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 parish. 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 Charles 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 317.288 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.043 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.427 degrees. |