RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Union Parish >> Laran >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Laran:
    • 32.973746, -92.485426
    • 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 Laran
  • 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 Union Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union Parish
    • Since Laran is near Union County and also Claiborne Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Claiborne 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Laran

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laran ...

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.

  • Cecil
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Cecil is located in Union Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Cherry Ridge ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cherry Ridge is located in Union Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Ridge
  • Farmerville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Hunt
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunt is located in Union Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt
  • Junction City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Junction City is located in Claiborne Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 557 people
  • Marion
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Pleasant Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Union County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Quigley
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Quigley is located in Union Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quigley
  • Randolph
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Randolph is located in Union Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
  • Sadie
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Sadie is located in Union Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sadie
  • Sandy Bend
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Sandy Bend is located in Union County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bend
  • Spearsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Strong
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Strong is located in Union County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strong
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 499 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Strong <1>
  • Union
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Union is located in Union County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union

How Far From Laran 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 community such as Laran to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Laran and extending to:

  • Farmerville, which is the Seat of Union Parish, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Laran to Farmerville, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 190 miles [305.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 953 miles [1,533.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,808 miles [10,956.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,532 miles [12,121.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,407 miles [8,701.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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- Laran) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Laran to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Laran. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.9737, Longitude: -92.4854       In this case, the coordinates for Laran have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.149 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.245 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.748 degrees.