Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bleak, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bleak and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bleak
- 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 Bleak:
- 35.005926, -89.795364
- 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 Bleak
- 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- Since Bleak is near DeSoto County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for DeSoto County
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Bleak ...
We found one communities that share the name Bleak.
Within Tennessee, the name Bleak is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, there is another community also named Bleak in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bleak ...
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.
- Booth ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Cedarview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Fairhaven
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Greenlawn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Handy Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Handy Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handy Corner
- Handy Corner is located in DeSoto County (MS)
- Irene ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Maywood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Mineral Wells
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Wells
- Mineral Wells is located in DeSoto County (MS)
- Olive Branch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Branch
- Olive Branch is located in DeSoto County (MS)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39,646 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olive Branch <3>
How Far From Bleak to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Bleak to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Bleak once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Bleak and extending to:
- Memphis, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bleak to Memphis, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 187 miles [300.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 752 miles [1,210.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,601 miles [10,623.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,323 miles [11,785.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,199 miles [8,367 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Shelby County: www.shelbycountytn.gov/
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Bleak) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bleak. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0059, Longitude: -89.7954 In this case, the coordinates for Bleak have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Bleak, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Bleak to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.618 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.738 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.239 degrees. |