Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blacks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blacks and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blacks
- 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 Blacks:
- 43.463781, -116.009273
- 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 Blacks
- 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 Ada County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Ada County
- Since Blacks is near Elmore County and also Boise County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Elmore County
- eBird sighting report for Boise 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 Blacks ...
We found five communities that share the name Blacks.
Within Idaho, the name Blacks is unique.
Beyond Idaho, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Pennsylvania
- Clarion 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 Pennsylvania community of Blacks [Clarion County].
- Venango County
- This Blacks is located in Venango County and lies 1,842 miles [2,964.4 km]<1> to the east of the Blacks that is located in Ada County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Venango County community of Blacks.
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blacks ...
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.
- Barber
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Cloverdale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverdale is located in Ada County
- Garden City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Ada County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,920 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garden City <4>
- Hillcrest
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Neal ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Orchard
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Steamboat Rock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steamboat Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steamboat Rock
- Steamboat Rock is located in Elmore County
- Twin Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs
- Twin Springs is located in Boise County
- Ustick
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Blacks to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Blacks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Blacks once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Blacks and extending to:
- Boise City, which is the Seat of Ada County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Blacks to Boise City, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Boise City, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest (NW). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take most of a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,030 miles [3,267 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 4 days, a buggy would take 80 days and walking would take 116 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 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 7,693 miles [12,380.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,725 miles [9,213.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Ada County: www.adaweb.net/
The official website for State of Idaho: www.state.id.us/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blacks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blacks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4638, Longitude: -116.0093 In this case, the coordinates for Blacks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Blacks 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> | 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 Blacks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Blacks 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 335.44 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.836 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.036 degrees. |