Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alderbranch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alderbranch and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alderbranch
- 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 Alderbranch:
- 31.688785, -95.458006
- 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 Alderbranch
- 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 Anderson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Anderson County
- Since Alderbranch is near Cherokee County and also Houston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
- eBird sighting report for Houston 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 Alderbranch ...
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.
- Crystal Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
- Crystal Lake is located in Anderson County
- Elkhart
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhart
- Elkhart is located in Anderson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,277 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhart <2>
- Herring
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Java
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Mewshaw
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Mound City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mound City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
- Mound City is located in Anderson County
- Palestine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
- Palestine is located in Anderson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,819 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palestine <2>
- Salmon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon
- Salmon is located in Anderson County
- Union Crossing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Crossing
- Union Crossing is located in Houston County
How Far From Alderbranch 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 Alderbranch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Alderbranch and extending to:
- Palestine, which is the Seat of Anderson County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alderbranch to Palestine, with an average speed<4> 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 167 miles [268.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,148 miles [1,847.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 66 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,990 miles [11,249.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,718 miles [12,420.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,594 miles [9,002.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Anderson County: www.co.anderson.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alderbranch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alderbranch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6888, Longitude: -95.4580 In this case, the coordinates for Alderbranch 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 Alderbranch 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 318.916 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.144 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.193 degrees. |