Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy).
When in Ketchikan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ketchikan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ketchikan
- 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 Ketchikan:
- 55.350476, -131.672273
- 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 Ketchikan
- 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 Ketchikan ...
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.
- Clover Pass
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Pass
- Dairy
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dairy
- Herring Cove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Herring Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herring Cove
- Mountain Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Point
- Mud Bay
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Refuge Cove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Refuge Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Refuge Cove
- Shoreline Drive
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shoreline Drive have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoreline Drive
How Far From Ketchikan 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 city such as Ketchikan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ketchikan and extending to:
- Juneau, which is the State Capital of Alaska, lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Ketchikan to Juneau, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,720 miles [4,377.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 6 days, a buggy would take 107 days and walking would take 155 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,363 miles [10,240.3 km] and it lies to the north (N).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,104 miles [11,432.8 km] and it lies to the north (N).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,391 miles [8,676 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Ketchikan: www.city.ketchikan.ak.us/
The official website for State of Alaska: alaska.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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ketchikan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ketchikan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 55.3505, Longitude: -131.6723 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Ketchikan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 348.89 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 351.884 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 333.528 degrees. |