Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Americus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Americus and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Americus
- 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 Americus:
- 38.902495, -106.165574
- 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 Americus
- 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 Chaffee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Chaffee County
- Since Americus is near Park County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Park County
- eBird sighting report for Lake 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 Americus ...
We found five communities that share the name Americus.
Within Colorado, the name Americus is unique.
Beyond Colorado, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Mississippi
- Missouri
Curious and Interesting Names Near Americus ...
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.
- Alpine ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Balltown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Centerville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Chaffee County
- Granite
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
- Granite is located in Chaffee County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granite <4>
- Iron City ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest) - Kobe
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest) - Low Pass ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Pine Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pine Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
- Pine Creek is located in Chaffee County
- Rockdale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Swan ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast) - Twin Lakes
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in Lake County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Twin Lakes <4>
How Far From Americus 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 Americus to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Americus and extending to:
- Salida, which is the Seat of Chaffee County, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Americus to Salida, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 85 miles [136.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,558 miles [2,507.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 61 days and walking would take 89 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,955 miles [11,193 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 7,718 miles [12,420.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,650 miles [9,092.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Americus. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Chaffee County: www.chaffeecounty.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 '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- Americus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Americus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9025, Longitude: -106.1656 In this case, the coordinates for Americus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Americus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 Americus 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 327.33 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 325.894 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.697 degrees. |