Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Rural Shade:
  • 32.050157, -96.139416
  • 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 Rural Shade

• 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 Navarro County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Navarro County
  • Since Rural Shade is near Henderson County and also Freestone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Henderson County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Freestone 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 Rural Shade

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rural Shade ...

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.

• Cross Roads
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Cross Roads is located in Henderson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
• Elm Flat
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Elm Flat is located in Navarro County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Flat
• Eureka
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Eureka is located in Navarro County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
• Goodlow
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Goodlow is located in Navarro County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodlow
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
  • Goodlow has also been known as:
  • Goodlow Park
• Goodnight
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Goodnight is located in Navarro County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodnight
• Mildred
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Mildred is located in Navarro County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
• Round House ‑ Historic
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Round House is located in Navarro County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round House
• Round Prairie
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Round Prairie is located in Navarro County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Prairie
• Star Harbor
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Star Harbor is located in Henderson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Harbor
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people

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

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

• Corsicana, which is the Seat of Navarro County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Rural Shade to Corsicana, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
• Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 155 miles [249.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,170 miles [1,882.9 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,998 miles [11,262.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,728 miles [12,437 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,605 miles [9,020.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'