RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Dallas County >> Grand Prairie >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Grand Prairie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grand Prairie and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Grand Prairie:
    • 32.745025, -96.994517
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Grand Prairie
  • 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 Dallas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dallas County
    • Since Grand Prairie is near Tarrant County and also Ellis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tarrant County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ellis 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Grand Prairie

Communities Also Named Grand Prairie ...

We found four communities that are also named Grand Prairie.

Within Texas, the name Grand Prairie is unique.

Beyond Texas, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Will County
      • This Grand Prairie is located in Will County and lies 778 miles [1,252.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Grand Prairie that is located in Dallas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Will County community of Grand Prairie.
    • Kansas
      • Brown County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Brown County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brown County community of Grand Prairie.
    • Louisiana
      • Plaquemines Parish
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Grand Prairie [Plaquemines Parish].
      • Saint Landry Parish
      • This Grand Prairie is located in Saint Landry Parish and lies 318 miles [511.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Grand Prairie that is located in Dallas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Landry Parish community of Grand Prairie.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Grand Prairie ...

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 Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Cedarview
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Cedarview is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarview
  • Eagle Ford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Eagle Ford is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Ford
  • Florence Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Florence Hill is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Hill
  • Gribble
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gribble is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gribble
  • Highland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Highland is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Jim Town ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Lakeview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Lakeview is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Minters Chapel ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Minters Chapel is located in Tarrant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minters Chapel
  • Oak Cliff
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Shady Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Shady Grove is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Shamrock
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Shamrock is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
  • Sublett
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Sublett is located in Tarrant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublett
  • University Park Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)

How Far From Grand Prairie to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Grand Prairie to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Grand Prairie and extending to:

  • Dallas, which is the Seat of Dallas County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Grand Prairie to Dallas, 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 176 miles [283.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 1,192 miles [1,918.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 68 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,993 miles [11,254.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,728 miles [12,437 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,607 miles [9,023.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 from Point A (ie- Grand Prairie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Grand Prairie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Grand Prairie to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grand Prairie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.7450, Longitude: -96.9945    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.069 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.633 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.752 degrees.