Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Belco, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Belco and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Belco
- 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 Belco:
- 31.136011, -97.339449
- 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 Belco
- 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 Bell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Bell County
- Since Belco is near Falls County and also McLennan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Falls County
- eBird sighting report for McLennan 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 Belco ...
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.
- Airville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Bland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Dog Ridge ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Hobbs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Little River
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Little River is located in Bell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little River <2>
- Moody
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
- Moody is located in McLennan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,433 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moody <2>
- Oscar
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Owl Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Red Ranger
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Ranger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Ranger
- Red Ranger is located in Bell County
- Stampede
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Stringtown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stringtown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Stringtown is located in Bell County
- Temple
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple
- Temple is located in Bell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80,761 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Temple <2>
- Union Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
- Union Hill is located in Bell County
How Far From Belco 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 Belco to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Belco and extending to:
- Belton, which is the Seat of Bell County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Belco to Belton, with an average speed<4> 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 64 miles [103 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,263 miles [2,032.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 72 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,091 miles [11,411.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,822 miles [12,588.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,700 miles [9,173.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Belco. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Bell County: www.bellcountytx.com/
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' (or 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- Belco) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Belco. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.1360, Longitude: -97.3394 In this case, the coordinates for Belco 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 Belco 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 320.08 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.443 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.068 degrees. |