Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Lake
- 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 West Lake:
- 30.025757, -90.004237
- 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 West Lake
- 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 Orleans Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Orleans Parish
- Since West Lake is near Saint Bernard Parish and also Jefferson Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Bernard Parish
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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
Communities Also Named West Lake ...
We found six communities that share the name West Lake.
Within Louisiana, the name West Lake is unique.
Beyond Louisiana, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, four are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Ontario
- This West Lake lies 1,186 miles [1,908.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the West Lake that is located in Orleans Parish.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Lake ...
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.
- Camp Leroy Johnson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camp Leroy Johnson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Leroy Johnson
- Camp Leroy Johnson is located in Orleans Parish
- Cutoff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Cypress Gardens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cypress Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Gardens
- Cypress Gardens is located in Saint Bernard Parish
- Ferncrest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Kingswood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Lakeview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Little Woods
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Woods
- Little Woods is located in Orleans Parish
- Spanish Fort
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spanish Fort have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Fort
- Spanish Fort is located in Orleans Parish
- Storyville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Storyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Storyville
- Storyville is located in Orleans Parish
- Willow Brook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Brook
- Willow Brook is located in Orleans Parish
How Far From West Lake 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 community such as West Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Lake and extending to:
- New Orleans, which is the Seat of Orleans Parish, lies just to the Southwest.
- Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 74 miles [119.1 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from West Lake to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 957 miles [1,540.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,854 miles [11,030.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,559 miles [12,165 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,437 miles [8,750 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.0258, Longitude: -90.0042 In this case, the coordinates for West Lake 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 West Lake 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 West Lake 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 315.291 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.686 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.182 degrees. |