Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Ball Play:
  • 35.033054, -84.699281
  • 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 Ball Play

• 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
  • Since Ball Play is near Murray County and also Bradley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Murray County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Bradley 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Ball Play

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ball Play ...

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.

• Cedar Spring
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Cedar Spring is located in Bradley County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Spring
• Earnest ‑ Historic
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Earnest is located in Bradley County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earnest
• Gap Spring
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Gap Spring is located in Bradley County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gap Spring
• Gregory
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Gregory is located in Murray County (GA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
  • Population from the 2010 Census: 7,432 people
• Parksville
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Parksville is located in Polk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksville
• Pumpkin Center
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Pumpkin Center is located in Bradley County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
• Sugar Grove
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Sugar Grove is located in Bradley County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
• Temple Grove
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Temple Grove is located in Murray County (GA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Grove
  • Estimated population in 2019: 4,795 people
• Union
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Union is located in Bradley County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
• Union Grove
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Union Grove is located in Bradley County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove

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

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

• Benton, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ball Play to Benton, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
• Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 140 miles [225.3 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 499 miles [803.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,392 miles [10,286.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,101 miles [11,428 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,977 miles [8,009.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'