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 Oak Forest:
30.484356, -91.077605
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.
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 East Baton Rouge Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
We found 26 communities that share the name Oak Forest.
There is one other community in Louisiana which is also named Oak Forest.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another 25 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Located In Louisiana ...
Terrebonne Parish
This Oak Forest is located in Terrebonne Parish and lies 59 miles [95 km]<1> to the south of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Terrebonne Parish community of Oak Forest.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alabama
Jefferson County
This Oak Forest is located in Jefferson County and lies 330 miles [531.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Oak Forest.
Arkansas
Lee County
This Oak Forest is located in Lee County and lies 298 miles [479.6 km]<1> to the north of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Oak Forest.
Lonoke County
This Oak Forest is located in Lonoke County and lies 312 miles [502.1 km] to the north of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lonoke County community of Oak Forest.
Phillips County
This Oak Forest is located in Phillips County and lies 280 miles [450.6 km] to the north of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Phillips County community of Oak Forest.
Pulaski County
This Oak Forest is located in Pulaski County and lies 302 miles [486 km] to the north northwest of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Oak Forest.
Florida
Hillsborough County
This Oak Forest is located in Hillsborough County and lies 551 miles [886.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Oak Forest.
Georgia
Chatham County
This Oak Forest is located in Chatham County and lies 600 miles [965.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chatham County community of Oak Forest.
Clayton County
This Oak Forest is located in Clayton County and lies 447 miles [719.4 km] to the east northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clayton County community of Oak Forest.
Illinois
Cook County
This Oak Forest is located in Cook County and lies 789 miles [1,269.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Oak Forest.
Indiana
Franklin County
This Oak Forest is located in Franklin County and lies 701 miles [1,128.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Oak Forest.
Kentucky
Allen County
This Oak Forest is located in Allen County and lies 516 miles [830.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allen County community of Oak Forest.
Maryland
Baltimore County
This Oak Forest is located in Baltimore County and lies 1,011 miles [1,627 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Oak Forest.
North Carolina
Buncombe County
This Oak Forest is located in Buncombe County and lies 603 miles [970.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buncombe County community of Oak Forest.
Iredell 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 North Carolina community of Oak Forest [Iredell County].
Johnston County
This Oak Forest is located in Johnston County and lies 806 miles [1,297.1 km] to the east northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnston County community of Oak Forest.
Wayne County
This Oak Forest is located in Wayne County and lies 831 miles [1,337.4 km] to the east northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Oak Forest.
Pennsylvania
Greene County
This Oak Forest is located in Greene County and lies 888 miles [1,429.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Oak Forest.
South Carolina
Charleston County
This Oak Forest is located in Charleston County and lies 670 miles [1,078.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charleston County community of Oak Forest.
Florence County
This Oak Forest is located in Florence County and lies 701 miles [1,128.2 km] to the east northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Florence County community of Oak Forest.
Spartanburg County
This Oak Forest is located in Spartanburg County and lies 609 miles [980.1 km] to the east northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of Oak Forest.
Texas
Gonzales County
This Oak Forest is located in Gonzales County and lies 394 miles [634.1 km]<1> to the west of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gonzales County community of Oak Forest.
Harris County
This Oak Forest is located in Harris County and lies 265 miles [426.5 km] to the west of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Oak Forest.
Virginia
Chesterfield County
This Oak Forest is located in Chesterfield County and lies 907 miles [1,459.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chesterfield County community of Oak Forest.
Cumberland County
This Oak Forest is located in Cumberland County and lies 882 miles [1,419.4 km] to the northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Oak Forest.
Hanover County
This Oak Forest is located in Hanover County and lies 927 miles [1,491.9 km] to the northeast of the Oak Forest that is located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hanover County community of Oak Forest.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oak Forest ...
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.
Bird (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bird have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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 Oak Forest to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Oak Forest and extending to:
Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies just to the west southwest (WSW).
The White House (Washington, DC) is 984 miles [1,583.6 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from Oak Forest to White House, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 56 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 39 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,876 miles [11,065.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,587 miles [12,210.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,463 miles [8,791.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Oak Forest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oak Forest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.4844, Longitude: -91.0776 In this case, the coordinates for Oak Forest 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 Oak Forest 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 Oak Forest 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 315.995 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.568 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.535 degrees.