Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Shaws Bend:
  • 29.736622, -96.639696
  • 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 Shaws Bend

• 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 Colorado County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Colorado County
  • Since Shaws Bend is near Fayette County and also Austin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Austin 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 Shaws Bend

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shaws Bend ...

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.

• Columbus
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Columbus is located in Colorado County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,699 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Columbus <1>
• Cozy Corner
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Cozy Corner is located in Fayette County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cozy Corner
• Gay Hill
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Gay Hill is located in Fayette County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay Hill
• Helms
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Helms is located in Colorado County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helms
• Hillcrest
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Hillcrest is located in Colorado County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
• Joiner
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Joiner is located in Fayette County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joiner
• Lone Oak
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Lone Oak is located in Colorado County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
• Park
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Park is located in Fayette County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park
• Post Oak Point
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Post Oak Point is located in Austin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak Point
• Rock Island
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Rock Island is located in Colorado County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island

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

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

• Columbus, which is the Seat of Colorado County, lies just to the East Southeast.
• Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 75 miles [120.7 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Shaws Bend to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,280 miles [2,060 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 73 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,138 miles [11,487.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,863 miles [12,654.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,739 miles [9,236 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'