Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Driftwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Driftwood and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Driftwood
- 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 Driftwood:
- 30.123248, -98.031508
- 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 Driftwood
- 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 Hays County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hays County
- Since Driftwood is near Travis County and also Blanco County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Travis County
- eBird sighting report for Blanco 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 Driftwood ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Driftwood.
Within Texas, the name Driftwood is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eleven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kansas
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Driftwood lies 1,575 miles [2,534.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Driftwood that is located in Hays County.
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Driftwood ...
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.
- Cedar Valley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Cedar Valley is located in Travis County
- Dripping Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dripping Springs
- Dripping Springs is located in Hays County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,587 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dripping Springs <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Dripping Springs
- From Driftwood to Dripping Springs
- Flatrock Ford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Flatrock Ford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatrock Ford
- Flatrock Ford is located in Hays County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Flatrock Ford
- From Driftwood to Flatrock Ford
- Hays
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Hays City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Mountain City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain City
- Mountain City is located in Hays County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 858 people
- Pioneer Town
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Town
- Pioneer Town is located in Hays County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pioneer Town
- From Driftwood to Pioneer Town
- Shady Hollow
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Hollow
- Shady Hollow is located in Travis County
How Far From Driftwood 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 Driftwood to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Driftwood and extending to:
- San Marcos, which is the Seat of Hays County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Driftwood to San Marcos, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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 19 miles [30.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,334 miles [2,146.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three full days, a buggy would take 53 days and walking would take 76 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,172 miles [11,542.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,902 miles [12,717 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,778 miles [9,298.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Driftwood. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hays County: www.co.hays.tx.us/
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Driftwood) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Driftwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.1232, Longitude: -98.0315 |
| <2> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Driftwood 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. |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 Driftwood 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 320.387 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.678 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.455 degrees. |