RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Ellis County >> Oak Leaf >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oak Leaf, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oak Leaf 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 Oak Leaf:
    • 32.522545, -96.847791
    • 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 Oak Leaf
  • 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 Ellis County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ellis County
    • Since Oak Leaf is near Dallas County and also Tarrant County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dallas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tarrant 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 Oak Leaf

Communities Also Named Oak Leaf ...

We found two communities that are also named Oak Leaf.

Within Texas, the name Oak Leaf is unique.

Beyond Texas, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Madison County
      • This Oak Leaf is located in Madison County and lies 606 miles [975.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Oak Leaf that is located in Ellis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Oak Leaf.
    • Ontario
      • This Oak Leaf lies 1,391 miles [2,238.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oak Leaf that is located in Ellis County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oak Leaf ...

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
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedarview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedarview is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarview
  • DeSoto
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Ike
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ike is located in Ellis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ike
  • Kingswood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Kingswood is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
  • Pecan Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pecan Hill is located in Ellis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Hill
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 714 people
  • Pleasant Run
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Run is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
  • Red Oak
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Shamrock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Shamrock is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock

How Far From Oak Leaf 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 town such as Oak Leaf to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Waxahachie, which is the Seat of Ellis County, lies just to the South.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 164 miles [263.9 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Oak Leaf to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,191 miles [1,916.7 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,000 miles [11,265.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,733 miles [12,445.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,612 miles [9,031.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Oak Leaf) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Oak Leaf 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 Oak Leaf. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.5225, Longitude: -96.8478       In this case, the coordinates for Oak Leaf have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.942 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.456 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.711 degrees.