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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Willis Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Willis Springs and the surrounding area.
- 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 Willis Springs:
- 35.009521, -84.686881
- 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 Willis Springs
- 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 Willis Springs 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 Willis Springs
Curious and Interesting Names Near Willis Springs ...
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.
- Ball Play
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Ball Play is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Play
- Cedar Spring
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- 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
(6 miles [9.7 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
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Parksville is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksville
- Pumpkin Center
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Pumpkin Center is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Sugar Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Sugar Grove is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Temple Grove
(7 miles [11.3 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
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Union is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Union Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Union Grove is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
How Far From Willis Springs 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 Willis Springs to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Willis Springs and extending to:
- Benton, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Willis Springs to Benton, with an average speed<2> 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.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 141 miles [226.9 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 500 miles [804.7 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 6,393 miles [10,288.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,102 miles [11,429.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,978 miles [8,011.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Willis Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Willis Springs to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Willis Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0095, Longitude: -84.6869 In this case, the coordinates for Willis Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.478 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.114 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.096 degrees. |
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