RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
Quarter for
Colorado

The Commemorative Quarter for Colorado





Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Aspen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Aspen and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Aspen:
    • 39.190672, -106.819210
    • 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 Aspen
  • 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 Aspen ...

We found five communities that share the name Aspen.

Within Colorado, the name Aspen is unique.

Beyond Colorado, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Frederick County
      • This Aspen is located in Frederick County and lies 1,569 miles [2,525.1 km]<1> to the east of the Aspen that is located in Pitkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Frederick County community of Aspen.
    • North Carolina
      • Warren County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Aspen [Warren County].
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Aspen lies 2,298 miles [3,698.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Aspen that is located in Pitkin County.
    • Virginia
      • Charlotte County
      • This Aspen is located in Charlotte County and lies 1,521 miles [2,447.8 km]<1> to the east of the Aspen that is located in Pitkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charlotte County community of Aspen.
    • Wyoming
      • Uinta County
      • This Aspen is located in Uinta County and lies 249 miles [400.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Aspen that is located in Pitkin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Uinta County community of Aspen.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Aspen ...

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.

  • Champion Mill
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Champion Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion Mill
    • Champion Mill is located in Lake County
  • Crystal ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Emma
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emma have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emma
    • Emma is located in Pitkin County
  • Everett
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Everett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett
    • Everett is located in Lake County
  • Gothic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Independence ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Ruby ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Snowmass
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Snowmass Village
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Woody Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)

How Far From Aspen to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Aspen to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Aspen and extending to:

  • Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 104 miles [167.4 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Aspen to Denver, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,590 miles [2,558.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 63 days and walking would take 91 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,957 miles [11,196.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,721 miles [12,425.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,658 miles [9,105.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

The official website for Aspen: www.aspenpitkin.com/

The official website for Pitkin County: www.aspenpitkin.com/

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 from Point A (ie- Aspen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Aspen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1907, Longitude: -106.8192    
<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 Aspen 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 Aspen 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 327.853 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 326.539 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.028 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025