Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Hill City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hill City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Hill City
- 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 Hill City:
- 32.307918, -97.848643
- 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 Hill City
- 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 Hood County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hood County
- Since Hill City is near Somervell County and also Erath County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Somervell County
- eBird sighting report for Erath 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 Hill City ...
We found eight communities that share the name Hill City.
Within Texas, the name Hill City is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hill City ...
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.
- Bluff Dale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Dale
- Bluff Dale is located in Erath County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluff Dale <3>
- Brushy
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Chalk Mountain
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk Mountain
- Chalk Mountain is located in Erath County
- Fort Spunky
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Spunky have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Spunky
- Fort Spunky is located in Hood County
- Georges Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georges Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georges Creek
- Georges Creek is located in Somervell County
- Glass
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass
- Glass is located in Somervell County
- Nemo
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nemo have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemo
- Nemo is located in Somervell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nemo <3>
- Pecan Plantation
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pecan Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Plantation
- Pecan Plantation is located in Hood County
- Rainbow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainbow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
- Rainbow is located in Somervell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainbow <3>
- Seven Knobs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seven Knobs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Knobs
- Seven Knobs is located in Somervell County
How Far From Hill City 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 community such as Hill City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hill City and extending to:
- Granbury, which is the Seat of Hood County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hill City to Granbury, with an average speed<5> 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 141 miles [226.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,250 miles [2,011.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 49 days and walking would take 71 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,048 miles [11,342.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,784 miles [12,527.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,664 miles [9,115.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Hill City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hood County: www.co.hood.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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hill City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hill City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.3079, Longitude: -97.8486 In this case, the coordinates for Hill City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Hill City 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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 Hill City 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 320.585 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.185 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.182 degrees. |