RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Idaho >> Benewah County >> De Smet >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in De Smet, we use the following websites to find information relevant to De Smet 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 De Smet:
    • 47.146010, -116.915725
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on De Smet
  • 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 Benewah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Benewah County
    • Since De Smet is near Whitman County and also Latah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Whitman County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Latah 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for De Smet

Communities Also Named De Smet ...

We found two communities that are also named De Smet.

Within Idaho, the name De Smet is unique.

Beyond Idaho, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Montana
      • Missoula County
      • This De Smet is located in Missoula County and lies 133 miles [214 km]<1> to the east of the De Smet that is located in Benewah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Missoula County community of De Smet.
    • South Dakota
      • Kingsbury County
      • This De Smet is located in Kingsbury County and lies 949 miles [1,527.3 km]<1> to the east of the De Smet that is located in Benewah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kingsbury County community of De Smet.

Curious and Interesting Names Near De Smet ...

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.

  • Crabtree
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Crabtree is located in Whitman County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crabtree
  • Eden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Eden is located in Whitman County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
  • Freeze
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Freeze is located in Latah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeze
  • Jamestown ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jamestown is located in Latah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
  • Lone Pine
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lone Pine is located in Whitman County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
  • Lotus
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lotus is located in Benewah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lotus
  • Mountain Home ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Mountain Home is located in Latah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
  • Pedee
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pedee is located in Benewah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedee
  • Potlatch
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Potlatch Junction
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Potlatch Junction is located in Latah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potlatch Junction
  • Stringtown
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Stringtown is located in Spokane County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
  • Yellow Dog ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Yellow Dog is located in Latah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Dog

How Far From De Smet 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 De Smet to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Saint Maries, which is the Seat of Benewah County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from De Smet to Saint Maries, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Boise, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 246 miles [395.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,067 miles [3,326.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 81 days and walking would take 118 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,710 miles [10,798.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,477 miles [12,033.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,544 miles [8,922.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- De Smet) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 De Smet to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in De Smet. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.1460, Longitude: -116.9157       In this case, the coordinates for De Smet have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.406 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.222 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.286 degrees.