Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Petal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Petal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Petal
- 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 Petal:
- 31.346863, -89.259854
- 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 Petal
- 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 Forrest County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Forrest County
- Since Petal is near Lamar County and also Perry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lamar County
- eBird sighting report for Perry 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Petal ...
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.
- Carterville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carterville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carterville
- Carterville is located in Forrest County
- Dragon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Goodluck
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
- Goodluck is located in Forrest County
- Harvey
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Jenkins Ferry
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jenkins Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Ferry
- Jenkins Ferry is located in Forrest County
- Leeville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Mars Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Peoples Ferry
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peoples Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoples Ferry
- Peoples Ferry is located in Forrest County
- Shadow Wood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shadow Wood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Wood
- Shadow Wood is located in Lamar County
- Sunrise
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Tall Pines
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tall Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Pines
- Tall Pines is located in Lamar County
How Far From Petal 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 city such as Petal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Petal and extending to:
- Hattiesburg, which is the Seat of Forrest County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Petal to Jackson, with an average speed<3>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 863 miles [1,388.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,759 miles [10,877.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,466 miles [12,015.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,343 miles [8,598.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Petal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Forrest County: www.co.forrest.ms.us/
The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Petal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Petal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3469, Longitude: -89.2599 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Petal to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.983 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.506 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.685 degrees. |