Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ashland Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ashland Heights and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ashland Heights
- 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 Ashland Heights:
- 44.129710, -103.125179
- 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 Ashland Heights
- 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 Pennington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pennington County
- Since Ashland Heights is near Meade County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Meade County
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Ashland Heights ...
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.
- Ajax
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south) - Blackhawk
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
- Blackhawk is located in Meade County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blackhawk <2>
- Box Elder
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Box Elder have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Box Elder
- Box Elder is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,564 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Box Elder <2>
- Carwye ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Green Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Green Valley is located in Pennington County
- Estimated population in 2014: 51 people
- Murphy
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Rapid City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid City
- Rapid City is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 78,864 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rapid City <2>
- Rapid Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid Valley
- Rapid Valley is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 8,260 people
- Rockerville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockerville
- Rockerville is located in Pennington County
- Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockerville <2>
- Summerset
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset
- Summerset is located in Meade County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,691 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summerset <2>
How Far From Ashland Heights to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ashland Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Ashland Heights and extending to:
- Rapid City, which is the Seat of Pennington County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Ashland Heights to Pierre, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,389 miles [2,235.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 79 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,568 miles [10,570.2 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 7,333 miles [11,801.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,278 miles [8,494.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ashland Heights. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Pennington County: www.co.pennington.sd.us/
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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ashland Heights) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ashland Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1297, Longitude: -103.1252 In this case, the coordinates for Ashland Heights 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 Ashland Heights 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 325.451 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.264 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.324 degrees. |