Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Arpan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Arpan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Arpan
- 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 Arpan:
- 44.788319, -103.649085
- 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 Arpan
- 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 Butte County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Butte County
- Since Arpan is near Lawrence County and also Crook County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
- eBird sighting report for Crook 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 Arpan ...
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.
- Castle Rock
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
- Castle Rock is located in Butte County
- Centennial City ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centennial City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centennial City
- Centennial City is located in Lawrence County
- Colony
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west) - Crook City
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crook City
- Crook City is located in Lawrence County
- Empire
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast) - Fruitdale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitdale
- Fruitdale is located in Butte County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitdale <2>
- Jolly
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Jolly Dump
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jolly Dump have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly Dump
- Jolly Dump is located in Butte County
- Spearfish
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spearfish have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearfish
- Spearfish is located in Lawrence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,900 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spearfish <2>
How Far From Arpan 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 Arpan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Arpan and extending to:
- Belle Fourche, which is the Seat of Butte County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Arpan to Belle Fourche, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 166 miles [267.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,420 miles [2,285.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 56 days and walking would take 81 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,545 miles [10,533.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,310 miles [11,764.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,263 miles [8,470 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Arpan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Arpan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Arpan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7883, Longitude: -103.6491 In this case, the coordinates for Arpan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Arpan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.877 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.828 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.515 degrees. |