Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Opelousas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Opelousas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Opelousas
- 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 Opelousas:
- 30.532846, -92.081064
- 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 Opelousas
- 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 Saint Landry Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Landry Parish
- Since Opelousas is near Evangeline Parish and also Acadia Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Evangeline Parish
- eBird sighting report for Acadia 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 Opelousas ...
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.
- Frisbie ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Grand Prairie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Prairie
- Grand Prairie is located in Saint Landry Parish
- Leonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonville
- Leonville is located in Saint Landry Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,093 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leonville <2>
- Lewisburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Peach Bloom
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peach Bloom have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Bloom
- Peach Bloom is located in Acadia Parish
- Poplar Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
- Poplar Grove is located in Saint Landry Parish
- Robin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Sunset
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
- Sunset is located in Saint Landry Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,962 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sunset <2>
- Swords
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
How Far From Opelousas 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 Opelousas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Opelousas and extending to:
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Opelousas to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,028 miles [1,654.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<5> 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).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,629 miles [12,277.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,504 miles [8,857.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Opelousas: www.cityofopelousas.com/
The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Opelousas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Opelousas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.5328, Longitude: -92.0811 |
| <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 Opelousas 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 316.619 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.303 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.928 degrees. |