Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Plano, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plano and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Plano
- 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 Plano:
- 33.013448, -96.708091
- 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 Plano
- 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 Plano is near Dallas County and also Denton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Dallas County
- eBird sighting report for Denton 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 Plano ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Plano.
Within Texas, the name Plano is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Comanche County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Plano [Comanche County].
- Stafford County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Plano [Stafford County].
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- South Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Plano ...
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 north)- 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>
- Branch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Centerville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Dallas County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Centerville
- From Plano to Centerville
- Farmers Branch
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmers Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Branch
- Farmers Branch is located in Dallas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 51,373 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farmers Branch <5>
- Forest Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- 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
- Hebron
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Liberty Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Liberty Grove is located in Dallas County
- Lucas
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Murphy
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murphy have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy
- Murphy is located in Collin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,844 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Murphy <5>
- Trinity Mills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Trinity Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity Mills
- Trinity Mills is located in Dallas County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Trinity Mills
- From Plano to Trinity Mills
- Trinity Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- 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
- University Park
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
- University Park is located in Dallas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,885 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for University Park <5>
How Far From Plano to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Plano to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Plano and extending to:
- McKinney, which is the Seat of Collin County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Plano to McKinney, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 199 miles [320.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 1,169 miles [1,881.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,968 miles [11,213.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,703 miles [12,396.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,582 miles [8,983.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Plano: www.planotx.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- Plano) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plano. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0134, Longitude: -96.7081 |
| <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 Plano 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> | 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 Plano, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Plano to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.911 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.481 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.593 degrees. |