Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Williams Ranch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Williams Ranch and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Williams Ranch
- 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 Williams Ranch:
- 31.496887, -98.638979
- 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 Williams Ranch
- 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 Mills County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mills County
- Since Williams Ranch is near Brown County and also San Saba County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Brown County
- eBird sighting report for San Saba 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Williams Ranch ...
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.
- Big Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Valley
- Big Valley is located in Mills County
- Blanket Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blanket Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanket Springs
- Blanket Springs is located in Mills County
- Buffalo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west) - Democrat
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Double Ford
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Double Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Ford
- Double Ford is located in Mills County
- Duke Crossing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duke Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke Crossing
- Duke Crossing is located in Mills County
- Pleasant Grove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Mills County
- Regency ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest) - Ridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
- Ridge is located in Mills County
- Spring Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Spring Creek is located in San Saba County
- Zephyr
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zephyr
- Zephyr is located in Brown County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zephyr <2>
How Far From Williams Ranch 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 Williams Ranch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Williams Ranch once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Williams Ranch and extending to:
- Goldthwaite, which is the Seat of Mills County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<4> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Williams Ranch to Austin, with an average speed<5>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,317 miles [2,119.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 52 days and walking would take 75 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,121 miles [11,460.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,857 miles [12,644.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,736 miles [9,231.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Williams Ranch, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Williams Ranch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Williams Ranch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.4969, Longitude: -98.6390 |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Williams Ranch to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.004 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.579 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.612 degrees. |