RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Smith County >> Wood Springs >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Wood Springs:
    • 32.474866, -95.404955
    • 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 Wood Springs
  • 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 Smith County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Smith County
    • Since Wood Springs is near Van Zandt County and also Wood County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Zandt County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wood 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 Wood Springs

Communities Also Named Wood Springs ...

We found three communities that are also named Wood Springs.

Within Texas, the name Wood Springs is unique.

Beyond Texas, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Apache County
      • This Wood Springs is located in Apache County and lies 834 miles [1,342.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Wood Springs that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Apache County community of Wood Springs.
    • Louisiana
      • De Soto Parish
      • This Wood Springs is located in De Soto Parish and lies 92 miles [148.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Wood Springs that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the De Soto Parish community of Wood Springs.
    • Mississippi
      • Choctaw County
      • This Wood Springs is located in Choctaw County and lies 356 miles [572.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Wood Springs that is located in Smith County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Choctaw County community of Wood Springs.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wood Springs ...

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.

  • Friendship
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Friendship is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Garden Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Garden Valley is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
  • Hide-A-Way Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hide-A-Way Lake is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hide-A-Way Lake
  • Hideaway
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hideaway is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideaway
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,208 people
  • New Harmony
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • New Harmony is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Harmony
  • Pine Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Springs is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Springs
  • Red Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Red Springs is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Springs
  • Sand Flat
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Sand Flat is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Flat
  • Shady Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Shady Grove is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Swan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Swan is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Wood Springs and extending to:

  • Tyler, which is the Seat of Smith County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wood Springs to Tyler, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 205 miles [329.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,118 miles [1,799.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,947 miles [11,180.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,677 miles [12,354.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,554 miles [8,938.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wood Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Wood Springs to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wood Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.4749, Longitude: -95.4050       In this case, the coordinates for Wood Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.981 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.321 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.078 degrees.