Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ketchum, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ketchum and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ketchum
- 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 Ketchum:
- 43.682209, -114.366384
- 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 Ketchum
- 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 Blaine County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Blaine County
- Since Ketchum is near Camas County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Camas 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 Ketchum ...
We found four communities that share the name Ketchum.
Within Idaho, the name Ketchum is unique.
Beyond Idaho, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Maine
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Utah
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ketchum ...
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.
- Boulder ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder
- Boulder is located in Blaine County
- Boulder has also been known as:
- Boulder Basin
- Carrietown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carrietown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrietown
- Carrietown is located in Camas County
- Cathedral Pines
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cathedral Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cathedral Pines
- Cathedral Pines is located in Blaine County
- Elkhorn Village
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhorn Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn Village
- Elkhorn Village is located in Blaine County
- Galena
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
- Galena is located in Blaine County
- Indian Head Rock
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Head Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head Rock
- Indian Head Rock is located in Camas County
- Sun Valley
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
- Sun Valley is located in Blaine County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,503 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sun Valley <4>
- Triumph
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Ketchum to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Ketchum to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ketchum and extending to:
- Hailey, which is the Seat of Blaine County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ketchum to Hailey, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Boise City, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 91 miles [146.5 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,947 miles [3,133.4 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 6,876 miles [11,065.8 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 7,645 miles [12,303.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,664 miles [9,115.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Ketchum: www.ci.ketchum.id.us/
The official website for Blaine County: www.co.blaine.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- Ketchum) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ketchum. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.6822, Longitude: -114.3664 |
| <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 Ketchum 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 Ketchum 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 334.135 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.323 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 323.013 degrees. |