Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Spirit Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spirit Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Spirit Lake
- 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 Spirit Lake:
- 47.965659, -116.865820
- 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 Spirit Lake
- 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 Kootenai County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kootenai County
- Since Spirit Lake is near Bonner County and also Pend Oreille County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Bonner County
- eBird sighting report for Pend Oreille 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 Spirit Lake ...
We found five communities that share the name Spirit Lake.
Within Idaho, the name Spirit Lake is unique.
Beyond Idaho, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Lafayette 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 Arkansas community of Spirit Lake [Lafayette County].
- Iowa
- Dickinson County
- This Spirit Lake is located in Dickinson County and lies 1,091 miles [1,755.8 km]<2> to the east of the Spirit Lake that is located in Kootenai County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dickinson County community of Spirit Lake.
- Minnesota
- Otter Tail 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 Minnesota community of Spirit Lake [Otter Tail County].
- Saint Louis 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 Minnesota community of Spirit Lake [Saint Louis County].
- Washington
- Skamania 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 Washington community of Spirit Lake [Skamania County].
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Spirit Lake ...
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.
- Echo Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Beach
- Echo Beach is located in Kootenai County
- Fir Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Harlem
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - North Pole
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Pole have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pole
- North Pole is located in Kootenai County
- Silver Beach
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
- Silver Beach is located in Kootenai County
- Silver Sands Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Sands Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Sands Beach
- Silver Sands Beach is located in Kootenai County
- Sturgeon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeon
- Sturgeon is located in Kootenai County
- Twinlow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
How Far From Spirit Lake 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 Spirit Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Spirit Lake and extending to:
- Coeur d'Alene, which is the Seat of Kootenai County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Spirit Lake to Coeur d'Alene, with an average speed<4> 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 five to six hours.
- Boise City, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 302 miles [486 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,658 miles [10,715 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,424 miles [11,947.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,497 miles [8,846.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Spirit Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Kootenai County: www.co.kootenai.id.us/
The official website for State of Idaho: www.state.id.us/
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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Spirit Lake 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spirit Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spirit Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.9657, Longitude: -116.8658 In this case, the coordinates for Spirit Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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. |
| <5> | 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 Spirit Lake to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.404 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.277 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.17 degrees. |