Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Crystal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Crystal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Crystal
- 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 Crystal:
- 44.267420, -114.325893
- 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 Crystal
- 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 Custer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Custer County
- Since Crystal is near Blaine County and also Lemhi County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Blaine County
- eBird sighting report for Lemhi 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 Crystal ...
We found 24 communities that share the name Crystal.
There are two communities within Idaho that are also named Crystal.
Beyond Idaho, we know of another 22 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 22 communities, 23 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Idaho ...
- Power County
- Washington County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- Clark County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Crystal [Clark County].
- Nye County
- This Crystal is located in Nye County and lies 545 miles [877.1 km]<1> to the south of the Crystal that is located in Custer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Crystal.
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Crystal lies 1,873 miles [3,014.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Crystal that is located in Custer County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Fayette County
- This Crystal is located in Fayette County and lies 1,783 miles [2,869.5 km]<1> to the east of the Crystal that is located in Custer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Crystal.
- Potter County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Crystal [Potter County].
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Crystal ...
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.
- Bayhorse ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayhorse
- Bayhorse is located in Custer County
- Bonanza ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
- Bonanza is located in Custer County
- Chilly
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast) - Dickey
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast) - Garden City ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Custer County
- Obsidian
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest) - Robinson Bar
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robinson Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Bar
- Robinson Bar is located in Custer County
- Sunbeam
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
How Far From Crystal 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 Crystal 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 community of Crystal once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Crystal and extending to:
- Challis, which is the Seat of Custer County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Crystal to Challis, with an average speed<5> 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 five to six hours.
- Boise City, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 103 miles [165.8 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,943 miles [3,127 km] to the east (E). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 76 days and walking would take 111 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,839 miles [11,006.3 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 7,607 miles [12,242.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,630 miles [9,060.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Custer County: www.co.custer.id.us/
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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Crystal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Crystal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2674, Longitude: -114.3259 In this case, the coordinates for Crystal 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 Crystal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Crystal 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. |
| <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 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 Crystal 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 334.145 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.379 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 322.938 degrees. |