Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ames, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ames and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ames
- 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 Ames:
- 37.864717, -107.882288
- 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 Ames
- 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 San Miguel County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for San Miguel County
- Since Ames is near San Juan County and also Ouray County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for San Juan County
- eBird sighting report for Ouray 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 Ames ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Ames.
Within Colorado, the name Ames is unique.
Beyond Colorado, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Alger County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Ames [Alger County].
- Menominee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Ames [Menominee County].
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Coryell County
- This Ames is located in Coryell County and lies 720 miles [1,158.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Ames that is located in San Miguel County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coryell County community of Ames.
- Liberty County
- This Ames is located in Liberty County and lies 924 miles [1,487 km] to the east southeast of the Ames that is located in San Miguel County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Liberty County community of Ames.
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ames ...
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.
- Keystone ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
- Keystone is located in San Miguel County
- Liberty Bell ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Bell
- Liberty Bell is located in San Miguel County
- Lime
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Mountain Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Village
- Mountain Village is located in San Miguel County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,470 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mountain Village <4>
- Red Mountain ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mountain
- Red Mountain is located in Ouray County
- Telluride
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Telluride
- Telluride is located in San Miguel County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,416 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Telluride <4>
- Tomboy ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Vanadium ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanadium
- Vanadium is located in San Miguel County
How Far From Ames to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ames 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<5> community of Ames once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ames and extending to:
- Telluride, which is the Seat of San Miguel County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 202 miles [325.1 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from Ames to Denver, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,663 miles [2,676.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 65 days and walking would take 95 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,065 miles [11,370 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,829 miles [12,599.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,765 miles [9,277.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for San Miguel County: www.sanmiguelcounty.org/
The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ames) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ames. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8647, Longitude: -107.8823 In this case, the coordinates for Ames have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Ames 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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 Ames, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Ames 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 328.517 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.189 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.719 degrees. |