Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Topeka, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Topeka and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Topeka
- 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 Topeka:
- 39.046011, -95.675767
- 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 Topeka
- 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 Shawnee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Shawnee County
- Since Topeka is near Jefferson County and also Douglas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- eBird sighting report for Douglas 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 Topeka ...
We found six communities that share the name Topeka.
Within Kansas, the name Topeka is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
Curious and Interesting Names Near Topeka ...
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 Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
- Big Springs is located in Douglas County
- Carbondale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbondale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
- Carbondale is located in Osage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,347 people
- Dover
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Dover is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dover <4>
- Grantville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grantville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Grantville is located in Jefferson County
- Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Grover
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Indian Ridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Ridge
- Indian Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Mineral Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Mineral Springs is located in Osage County
- Rock Creek
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Rock Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Silver Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in Shawnee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,395 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Lake <4>
- Swissvale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
How Far From Topeka 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 city such as Topeka to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Topeka and extending to:
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 998 miles [1,606.1 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Topeka to White House, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 57 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,613 miles [10,642.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,360 miles [11,844.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,252 miles [8,452.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Topeka: www.topeka.org/
The official website for Shawnee County: www.co.shawnee.ks.us/
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Topeka) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Topeka. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0460, Longitude: -95.6758 |
| <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 Topeka 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> | 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 Topeka 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 319.781 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.092 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.215 degrees. |