Where Oaklawn Sits and How Far It Is From You

The Fixed Point That Answers Every Distance Question

Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort sits at 34.485 degrees north latitude and -93.057 degrees west longitude, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. That coordinate pair is the one fact that does not change no matter where a visitor starts from, and the straight-line distances in this article all radiate outward from it.

Every mileage figure below is a great-circle measurement, which is the shortest path across the surface of the earth. Road distance is always longer than straight-line distance, and this article does not publish driving mileage or travel time for any route.

The venue opened on February 24, 1904, which makes its physical footprint one of the older continuously used entertainment sites in the region. A property that has existed that long tends to anchor its surrounding road network, but the roads still bend around terrain and water in ways a straight line does not.

How to Read the Distance Table

The table below lists every reference point for which a documented straight-line distance to Oaklawn exists. Each row uses the same measurement type: great-circle, also called as-the-crow-flies.

Use the table to orient yourself. If your city or airport is not listed, the venue's coordinates let you measure from your own starting point with any mapping tool, but the number you get will be a straight line unless the tool specifically switches to road routing.

Why Straight-Line and Road Distance Diverge

A great-circle line ignores everything on the ground. It passes over ridges, across rivers, and through whatever stands between two points. A road cannot do that.

The region around Hot Springs is not flat. The Ouachita Mountains begin just west of the city, and the terrain forces highways to follow valleys and passes rather than cut directly toward a destination. Water adds another layer: lakes and reservoirs around the area create choke points where every vehicle must cross at a bridge, and those crossings are rarely on the straight-line path.

Road networks also follow historical settlement patterns. Towns grew where water, rail, and passable grades existed, and the highways that later connected them inherited those curves. Crossing a state line can add further detours because each state maintains its own road priorities, and the shortest paved connection between two cities is not always the one a map's straight edge would draw.

For a visitor, the practical consequence is that a straight-line figure of 146.0 miles to Shreveport or 245.9 miles to Dallas understates the actual drive. The road distance is longer, sometimes substantially, and this article deliberately does not estimate it.

Where Oaklawn Sits Within Arkansas and the Region

Oaklawn's coordinates place it in the west-central part of Arkansas, within the city of Hot Springs. Hot Springs sits southwest of Little Rock and west of the state's geographic center, near the eastern edge of the Ouachita range.

Relative to the reference points in the table, the venue lies north of Shreveport and New Orleans, northeast of Dallas and Houston, east of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, southwest of St Louis and Chicago, and west of Atlanta and Charlotte. Those directional statements come directly from the coordinate pairs and the straight-line distances, not from any road map.

The venue's position makes it a regional destination for several surrounding states. Arkansas itself is the anchor, but the table shows that portions of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Missouri all fall within a few hundred straight-line miles. A reader in any of those areas can use the table to gauge whether the trip is a short regional one or a longer cross-country journey.

If Your Starting Point Is Not in the Table

The keyword for this article asks about a specific venue, and the most common follow-up is a distance question phrased as "from me" or "from my location." That phrasing has no fixed answer because the reader's position is not fixed. Oaklawn's position is.

The correct way to measure from your own starting point is to take the venue's coordinates, 34.485, -93.057, and enter them into any mapping application along with your own address or current location. The tool will return a straight-line figure if you ask for it, and a road distance if you select driving directions. The straight-line number you get should match the scale of the figures in the table above for nearby reference cities.

If the specific city you want is not listed, this article cannot measure that pairing. The table contains every documented pair available, and no additional pair can be computed here without risking an unsupported number.

What to Confirm Before You Go

Distances in this article are fixed measurements between coordinates. Everything else about a visit is changeable and should be confirmed through the venue's own published channels before you travel.

• Operating hours and any seasonal schedule changes, which appear on the property's own hours page and are not stated here.
• Current entry requirements, if any, and whether the racing season differs from the casino floor's schedule.
• Road conditions and construction on your intended route, which affect driving time far more than the straight-line distance does.
• Lodging availability at the property or nearby, including any resort fee shown as a separate line at booking.
• Whether the specific game or table you are looking for is currently offered, since floor configurations change and this article makes no claim about any table count.

The venue's own website and guest services line are the authoritative channels for all of those items. The number printed in the footer below is a helpline, not a venue switchboard.

FAQ

Does this article say how many blackjack tables Oaklawn has?

No. The documented facts for this article cover the venue's coordinates, opening date, and straight-line distances to reference cities. No table count, game count, or floor configuration figure is available here, and this article does not invent one. Floor layouts and game offerings change, so the venue's own published materials or a direct inquiry to the property are the only reliable sources for that question.

Is the straight-line distance the same as the drive?

No. Straight-line distance is the shortest path across the earth's surface between two coordinate points. A road must follow terrain, cross water at bridges, and bend around obstacles, so driving distance is always longer. This article labels every figure as great-circle and does not publish road mileage or travel time for any route.

How do I find the road distance from my city?

Take Oaklawn's coordinates, 34.485, -93.057, and enter them into any mapping application along with your starting address. Select driving directions to get a road distance and route. The result will be longer than the straight-line figure for the nearest reference city in the table above, and the difference depends on terrain, water crossings, and the road network between the two points.

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