Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Old Castor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Castor and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Old Castor
- 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 Old Castor:
- 32.266824, -93.125998
- 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 Old Castor
- 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 Bienville Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Bienville Parish
- Since Old Castor is near Natchitoches Parish and also Red River Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Natchitoches Parish
- eBird sighting report for Red River 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Castor ...
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.
- Alberta
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Brown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Bryan ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Ebenezer
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Hall Summit
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hall Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hall Summit
- Hall Summit is located in Red River Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hall Summit <3>
- Jamestown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jamestown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Jamestown is located in Bienville Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jamestown <3>
- Lucky
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Martin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Saline
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saline have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline
- Saline is located in Bienville Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 265 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saline <3>
- Skidder
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
How Far From Old Castor 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 Old Castor to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Old Castor and extending to:
- Arcadia, which is the Seat of Bienville Parish, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<4> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Old Castor to Arcadia, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day 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 170 miles [273.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,010 miles [1,625.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,870 miles [11,056.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,592 miles [12,218.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,468 miles [8,799.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Old Castor. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Bienville Parish: www.bienvilleparish.org/
The official website for State of Louisiana: https://www.louisiana.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <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> | 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- Old Castor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Old Castor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.2668, Longitude: -93.1260 In this case, the coordinates for Old Castor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Old Castor 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 317.481 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.539 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.123 degrees. |