Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Plains, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Plains and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Plains
- 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 Plains:
- 36.738868, -91.868057
- 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 Plains
- 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 Howell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Howell County
- Since West Plains is near Oregon County and also Douglas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Oregon County
- eBird sighting report for Douglas 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 West Plains ...
We found two communities that share the name West Plains.
Within Missouri, the name West Plains is unique.
Beyond Missouri, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Seward County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of West Plains [Seward County].
- Michigan
- Muskegon County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of West Plains [Muskegon County].
- Kansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Plains ...
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.
- Brandsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brandsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandsville
- Brandsville is located in Howell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
- Carson ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - China
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Cureall
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Egypt Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Egypt Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt Grove
- Egypt Grove is located in Howell County
- Frankville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frankville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankville
- Frankville is located in Howell County
- Fruitville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitville
- Fruitville is located in Howell County
- Homeland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Hunter Crossing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunter Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Crossing
- Hunter Crossing is located in Oregon County
- Peace Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peace Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Valley
- Peace Valley is located in Howell County
- Pottersville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottersville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersville
- Pottersville is located in Howell County
How Far From West Plains 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 city such as West Plains to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in West Plains and extending to:
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 821 miles [1,321.3 km]<3> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from West Plains to White House, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 47 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 32 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,594 miles [10,612 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,327 miles [11,791.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,206 miles [8,378.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for West Plains: www.westplains.net/
The official website for State of Missouri: https://www.mo.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Plains 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- West Plains) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7389, Longitude: -91.8681 In this case, the coordinates for West Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Plains 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 317.068 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.649 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.824 degrees. |