Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Start, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Start and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Start

• 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 Start:
  • 32.486532, -91.859295
  • 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.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Start

• 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 Richland Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Richland Parish
  • Since Start is near Morehouse Parish and also Ouachita Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Morehouse Parish
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Ouachita 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Start

Curious and Interesting Names Near Start ...

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.

• Crew Lake
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Crew Lake is located in Richland Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crew Lake
• Cypress Point
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Cypress Point is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Point
• Four Forks
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Four Forks is located in Richland Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Forks
• Garden Park
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Garden Park is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Park
• Gum Ridge
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Gum Ridge is located in Morehouse Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Ridge
• Hidden Oaks
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hidden Oaks is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Oaks
• Jones Ferry
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jones Ferry is located in Morehouse Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Ferry
• Lakeshore
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Lakeshore is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeshore
• Lakeview Park
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Lakeview Park is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Park
• Leisure Village
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Leisure Village is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure Village
• Magenta
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Magenta is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magenta
• Rhymes
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Rhymes is located in Richland Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhymes
• Spanish City
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Spanish City is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish City
• Tanglewood
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Tanglewood is located in Ouachita Parish
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood

How Far From Start 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 Start to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Start and extending to:

• Rayville, which is the Seat of Richland Parish, lies just to the East.
• Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 146 miles [235 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Start to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 940 miles [1,512.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,808 miles [10,956.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,528 miles [12,115.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,403 miles [8,695.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'