Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Desert, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Desert and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Desert
- 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 Desert:
- 33.388444, -96.401928
- 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 Desert
- 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 Collin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Collin County
- Since Desert is near Fannin County and also Grayson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fannin County
- eBird sighting report for Grayson 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 Desert ...
We found seven communities that share the name Desert.
Within Texas, the name Desert is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Nevada
- Churchill County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Churchill County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Churchill County community of Desert.
- Lyon County
- This community is historic and although located in Lyon County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lyon County community of Desert.
- New Mexico
- Nova Scotia
- Oregon
- Utah
Curious and Interesting Names Near Desert ...
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.
- Anna
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anna have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anna
- Anna is located in Collin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,945 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anna <5>
- Arnold
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Cannon
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Enterprise
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enterprise have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Enterprise is located in Fannin County
- Kentucky Town
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentucky Town
- Kentucky Town is located in Grayson County
- Lane
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Leonard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leonard have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
- Leonard is located in Fannin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,068 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leonard <5>
- Nobility
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Orangeville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orangeville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orangeville
- Orangeville is located in Fannin County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Pike
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Pilot Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Grove
- Pilot Grove is located in Grayson County
- Randolph
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
- Randolph is located in Fannin County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Randolph <5>
- Snow Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Tom Bean
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tom Bean
- Tom Bean is located in Grayson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,073 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tom Bean <5>
- Union Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
- Union Hill is located in Fannin County
- Pike
How Far From Desert 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 Desert to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Desert and extending to:
- McKinney, which is the Seat of Collin County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Desert to McKinney, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 229 miles [368.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,142 miles [1,837.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 65 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,937 miles [11,164 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,672 miles [12,346.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,551 miles [8,933.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Desert. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Collin County: www.co.collin.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Desert could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | 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 Desert, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Desert) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Desert. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3884, Longitude: -96.4019 In this case, the coordinates for Desert have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Desert to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.752 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.342 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.411 degrees. |