Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McKinney, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McKinney and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McKinney
- 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 McKinney:
- 33.198511, -96.638845
- 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 McKinney
- 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 McKinney is near Denton County and also Grayson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Denton 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 McKinney ...
We found eleven communities that share the name McKinney.
Within Texas, the name McKinney is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Bradley County
- This McKinney is located in Bradley County and lies 258 miles [415.2 km]<1> to the east of the McKinney that is located in Collin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bradley County community of McKinney.
- Cleveland County
- 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 Arkansas community of McKinney [Cleveland County].
- Miller County
- This McKinney is located in Miller County and lies 164 miles [263.9 km] to the east of the McKinney that is located in Collin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miller County community of McKinney.
- California
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Cumberland County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of McKinney [Cumberland County].
- Franklin County
- This McKinney is located in Franklin County and lies 1,154 miles [1,857.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the McKinney that is located in Collin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of McKinney.
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near McKinney ...
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.
- Allen
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Allen is located in Collin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109,379 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <5>
- Biggers ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Branch
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Chambersville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chambersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambersville
- Chambersville is located in Collin County
- Climax
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Forest Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
- Forest Grove is located in Collin County
- Lucas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Prosper
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prosper have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosper
- Prosper is located in Collin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,957 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prosper <5>
- Rockhill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockhill
- Rockhill is located in Collin County
- Trinity Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trinity Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity Park
- Trinity Park is located in Collin County
How Far From McKinney 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 city such as McKinney to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McKinney and extending to:
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 212 miles [341.2 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from McKinney to Austin, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,160 miles [1,866.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 66 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,956 miles [11,194.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,691 miles [12,377.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,570 miles [8,964 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for McKinney: www.mckinneytexas.org/
The official website for Collin County: www.co.collin.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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McKinney) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McKinney. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1985, Longitude: -96.6388 |
| <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 McKinney, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 McKinney 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. |
| <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 McKinney 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 319.887 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.477 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.54 degrees. |