Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Red Dirt, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Red Dirt and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Red Dirt
- 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 Red Dirt:
- 31.507393, -93.035440
- 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 Red Dirt
- 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 Natchitoches Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Natchitoches Parish
- Since Red Dirt is near Rapides Parish and also Vernon Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rapides Parish
- eBird sighting report for Vernon 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 Red Dirt ...
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.
- Cypress
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Fern
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Flora
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
- Flora is located in Natchitoches Parish
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flora <2>
- Henryville ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henryville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henryville
- Henryville is located in Natchitoches Parish
- James Ferry
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for James Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Ferry
- James Ferry is located in Natchitoches Parish
- Janie
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Lakeview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Lotus
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Magnolia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Mink
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Pollockville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pollockville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pollockville
- Pollockville is located in Natchitoches Parish
How Far From Red Dirt to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Red Dirt to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Red Dirt once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Red Dirt and extending to:
- Natchitoches, which is the Seat of Natchitoches Parish, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<4> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Red Dirt to Natchitoches, with an average speed<5> 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 five to six hours.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 133 miles [214 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,034 miles [1,664.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 6,905 miles [11,112.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,624 miles [12,269.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,500 miles [8,851.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Louisiana: https://www.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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Red Dirt, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Red Dirt) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Red Dirt. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5074, Longitude: -93.0354 In this case, the coordinates for Red Dirt 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 Red Dirt 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 317.336 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.269 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.188 degrees. |