Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ararat, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ararat and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ararat
- 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 Ararat:
- 31.947283, -98.380778
- 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 Ararat
- 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 Comanche County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Comanche County
- Since Ararat is near Erath County and also Hamilton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Erath County
- eBird sighting report for Hamilton 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 Ararat ...
We found seven communities that share the name Ararat.
Within Texas, the name Ararat is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ararat ...
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.
- Comanche
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche
- Comanche is located in Comanche County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,219 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Comanche <2>
- Cottonwood
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Cottonwood is located in Erath County
- Dublin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dublin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin
- Dublin is located in Erath County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,552 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dublin <2>
- Edna Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Energy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Energy
- Energy is located in Comanche County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Energy <2>
- Hazeldell
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Highland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Springtown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springtown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springtown
- Springtown is located in Hamilton County
- Sunshine
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
How Far From Ararat 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 community such as Ararat 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 Ararat once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ararat and extending to:
- Comanche, which is the Seat of Comanche County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ararat to Comanche, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 121 miles [194.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,289 miles [2,074.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 51 days and walking would take 74 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,087 miles [11,405.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,823 miles [12,589.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,703 miles [9,178.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ararat) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ararat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9473, Longitude: -98.3808 |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Ararat, 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 Ararat 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 320.894 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.505 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.456 degrees. |