Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Bend, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Bend and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Bend
- 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 Big Bend:
- 38.201397, -102.750752
- 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 Big Bend
- 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 Bent County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Bent County
- Since Big Bend is near Prowers County and also Kiowa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Prowers County
- eBird sighting report for Kiowa 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 Big Bend ...
We found 23 communities that share the name Big Bend.
Within Colorado, the name Big Bend is unique.
Beyond Colorado, we know of another 23 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Butte County
- This Big Bend is located in Butte County and lies 1,008 miles [1,622.2 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Big Bend that is located in Bent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butte County community of Big Bend.
- Calaveras County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Calaveras County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calaveras County community of Big Bend.
- Placer County
- This Big Bend is located in Placer County and lies 958 miles [1,541.8 km] to the west of the Big Bend that is located in Bent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Placer County community of Big Bend.
- Shasta County
- This Big Bend is located in Shasta County and lies 1,035 miles [1,665.7 km] to the west northwest of the Big Bend that is located in Bent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Big Bend.
- Sonoma County
- This Big Bend is located in Sonoma County and lies 1,067 miles [1,717.2 km] to the west of the Big Bend that is located in Bent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sonoma County community of Big Bend.
- Florida
- Kansas
- Jewell County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Big Bend [Jewell County].
- Phillips County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Big Bend [Phillips County].
- Republic County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Big Bend [Republic County].
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Maries County
- This Big Bend is located in Maries County and lies 581 miles [935 km]<2> to the east of the Big Bend that is located in Bent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maries County community of Big Bend.
- Saint Louis County
- Although located in Saint Louis County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Big Bend.
- New York
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- Mercer County
- This Big Bend is located in Mercer County and lies 1,206 miles [1,940.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Big Bend that is located in Bent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Big Bend.
- Venango County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Big Bend [Venango County].
- Warren County
- This Big Bend is located in Warren County and lies 1,276 miles [2,053.5 km] to the east northeast of the Big Bend that is located in Bent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Big Bend.
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Bend ...
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.
- Boggsville ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boggsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boggsville
- Boggsville is located in Bent County
- Granada
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granada
- Granada is located in Prowers County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granada <5>
- Hartman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartman have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartman
- Hartman is located in Prowers County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 76 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartman <5>
- Hasty
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hasty
- Hasty is located in Bent County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hasty <5>
- May Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May Valley
- May Valley is located in Prowers County
- Sugar
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Water Valley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Water Valley came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Water Valley is located in Kiowa County
How Far From Big Bend 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 community such as Big Bend to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Bend and extending to:
- Las Animas, which is the Seat of Bent County, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Big Bend to Las Animas, with an average speed<7> 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 160 miles [257.5 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,384 miles [2,227.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 54 days and walking would take 79 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,892 miles [11,091.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,650 miles [12,311.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,562 miles [8,951.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Bend. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Big Bend 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. |
| <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 from Point A (ie- Big Bend) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Bend. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2014, Longitude: -102.7508 In this case, the coordinates for Big Bend have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Big Bend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Big Bend to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 324.729 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 322.76 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.948 degrees. |