Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Ridge and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Ridge
- 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 Big Ridge:
- 36.727556, -89.662859
- 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 Big Ridge
- 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 county-by-county basis. We have selected New Madrid County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for New Madrid County
- Since Big Ridge is near Stoddard County and also Scott County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Stoddard County
- eBird sighting report for Scott County
- 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 Big Ridge ...
We found four communities that share the name Big Ridge.
Within Missouri, the name Big Ridge is unique.
Beyond Missouri, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Louisiana
- North Carolina
- Nova Scotia
- This Big Ridge lies 1,642 miles [2,642.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Big Ridge that is located in New Madrid County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Ridge ...
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.
- Champion
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Charter Oak
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charter Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Oak
- Charter Oak is located in Stoddard County
- Cody ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Grayridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Hills Store
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hills Store have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Store
- Hills Store is located in Stoddard County
- Hurricane Ridge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hurricane Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane Ridge
- Hurricane Ridge is located in New Madrid County
- Little River
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Little River is located in New Madrid County
- Marco
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Sky
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
How Far From Big Ridge 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 Big Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Ridge and extending to:
- New Madrid, which is the Seat of New Madrid County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Big Ridge to New Madrid, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 704 miles [1,133 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,511 miles [10,478.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,238 miles [11,648.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,115 miles [8,231.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Ridge. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Missouri: https://www.mo.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Big Ridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7276, Longitude: -89.6629 In this case, the coordinates for Big Ridge 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Big Ridge 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 county. 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 Big Ridge 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 315.638 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.995 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.826 degrees. |