Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vilas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vilas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vilas
- 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 Vilas:
- 30.841225, -97.303717
- 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 Vilas
- 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 Bell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Bell County
- Since Vilas is near Milam County and also Williamson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Milam County
- eBird sighting report for Williamson 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 Vilas ...
We found nine communities that share the name Vilas.
Within Texas, the name Vilas is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Florida
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vilas ...
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.
- Bowers
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Elm Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Friendship ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Williamson County
- Hare
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Holland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
- Holland is located in Bell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,189 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holland <5>
- Joe Lee
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Leedale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Little River
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Little River is located in Bell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little River <5>
- New Colony
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Colony
- New Colony is located in Bell County
- Rogers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Rogers is located in Bell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,253 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rogers <5>
- Sharp
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Sparks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks
- Sparks is located in Bell County
How Far From Vilas 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 community such as Vilas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vilas and extending to:
- Belton, which is the Seat of Bell County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Vilas to Belton, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,271 miles [2,045.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 73 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,106 miles [11,436 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,836 miles [12,610.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,713 miles [9,194.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vilas. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Bell County: www.bellcountytx.com/
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vilas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vilas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.8412, Longitude: -97.3037 |
| <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 Vilas 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 Vilas, 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> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Vilas to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.013 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.327 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.079 degrees. |