Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Riesel:
  • 31.476163, -96.930579
  • 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 Riesel

• 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 McLennan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for McLennan County
  • Since Riesel is near Falls County and also Limestone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Limestone 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 Riesel

Curious and Interesting Names Near Riesel ...

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.

• Battle
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Battle is located in McLennan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battle
• Downs
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Downs is located in McLennan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downs
• Downsville
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Downsville is located in McLennan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downsville
• Elk
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Elk is located in McLennan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk
• Hallsburg
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Hallsburg is located in McLennan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallsburg
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 454 people
• Lake Creek
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Lake Creek is located in McLennan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Creek
• Mart
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Mart is located in McLennan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mart
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,983 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mart <1>
• Otto
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Otto is located in Falls County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otto
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Otto <1>
• Rocky Hill
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Rocky Hill is located in Falls County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Hill

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Riesel and extending to:

• Waco, which is the Seat of McLennan County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Riesel to Waco, with an average speed<3> 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 96 miles [154.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,230 miles [1,979.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 70 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,058 miles [11,358.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,789 miles [12,535.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,666 miles [9,118.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'