Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Mount Sylvan

• 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 Mount Sylvan:
  • 32.457366, -95.468846
  • 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 Mount Sylvan

• 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 Smith County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Smith County
  • Since Mount Sylvan is near Van Zandt County and also Henderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Zandt County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Henderson 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 Mount Sylvan

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mount Sylvan ...

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.

• Evelyn
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Evelyn is located in Henderson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evelyn
• Friendship
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Friendship is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
• Garden Valley
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Garden Valley is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
• Hide-A-Way Lake
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Hide-A-Way Lake is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hide-A-Way Lake
• Hideaway
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Hideaway is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideaway
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,208 people
• Jamestown
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jamestown is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
• New Harmony
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • New Harmony is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Harmony
• Sand Flat
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Sand Flat is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Flat
• Shady Grove
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Shady Grove is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
• Swan
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Swan is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan
• Wood Springs
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Wood Springs is located in Smith County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Springs

How Far From Mount Sylvan 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 Mount Sylvan to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Mount Sylvan and extending to:

• Tyler, which is the Seat of Smith County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Mount Sylvan to Tyler, with an average speed<2> 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 202 miles [325.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,122 miles [1,805.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,951 miles [11,186.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,681 miles [12,361.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,558 miles [8,944.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'