Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Leander, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Leander and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Leander
- 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 Leander:
- 31.148518, -92.846540
- 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 Leander
- 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 Vernon Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Vernon Parish
- Since Leander is near Rapides Parish and also Allen Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rapides Parish
- eBird sighting report for Allen 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 Leander ...
We found seven communities that share the name Leander.
Within Louisiana, the name Leander is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Leander ...
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.
- Elmer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmer
- Elmer is located in Rapides Parish
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elmer <4>
- Hemphill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Hicks
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
- Hicks is located in Vernon Parish
- Hicks Crossing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hicks Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Crossing
- Hicks Crossing is located in Vernon Parish
- Hood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Mayo
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Muse ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Price Crossing
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Price Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Crossing
- Price Crossing is located in Rapides Parish
- Temple
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Union Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
- Union Hill is located in Rapides Parish
How Far From Leander 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 Leander to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Leander and extending to:
- Leesville, which is the Seat of Vernon Parish, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Leander to Leesville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 111 miles [178.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,039 miles [1,672.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,915 miles [11,128.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,633 miles [12,284.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,509 miles [8,865.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
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 '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- Leander) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Leander. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.1485, Longitude: -92.8465 In this case, the coordinates for Leander 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Leander 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'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 Leander 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 317.173 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.032 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.158 degrees. |