Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alta and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alta
- 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 Alta:
- 39.773019, -87.386448
- 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 Alta
- 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 Vermillion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Vermillion County
- Since Alta is near Parke County and also Edgar County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Parke County
- eBird sighting report for Edgar 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 Alta ...
We found 21 communities that share the name Alta.
Within Indiana, the name Alta is unique.
Beyond Indiana, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Placer County
- This Alta is located in Placer County and lies 1,771 miles [2,850.1 km]<1> to the west of the Alta that is located in Vermillion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Placer County community of Alta.
- San Diego 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 California community of Alta [San Diego County].
- Colorado
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Harvey 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 Kansas community of Alta [Harvey County].
- Jewell 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 Kansas community of Alta [Jewell County].
- Johnson 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 Kansas community of Alta [Johnson County].
- Kentucky
- Montana
- Jefferson 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 Montana community of Alta [Jefferson County].
- Ravalli County
- This Alta is located in Ravalli County and lies 1,416 miles [2,278.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Alta that is located in Vermillion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ravalli County community of Alta.
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Highland 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 Ohio community of Alta [Highland County].
- Richland County
- This Alta is located in Richland County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alta that is located in Vermillion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Alta.
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Salt Lake County
- This Alta is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,276 miles [2,053.5 km]<1> to the west of the Alta that is located in Vermillion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Alta.
- Wasatch County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Wasatch County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wasatch County community of Alta.
- West Virginia
- Fayette County
- This Alta is located in Fayette County and lies 350 miles [563.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Alta that is located in Vermillion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Alta.
- Greenbrier County
- This Alta is located in Greenbrier County and lies 390 miles [627.6 km] to the east southeast of the Alta that is located in Vermillion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenbrier County community of Alta.
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alta ...
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.
- Arabia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Bono
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Coke Oven Hollow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coke Oven Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coke Oven Hollow
- Coke Oven Hollow is located in Parke County
- Dana
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
- Dana is located in Vermillion County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 564 people
- Early Station
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Early Station have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Early Station
- Early Station is located in Vermillion County
- Highland
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Highland is located in Vermillion County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Highland <5>
- Jonestown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Montezuma
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montezuma have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montezuma
- Montezuma is located in Parke County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montezuma <5>
- Montezuma Station
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montezuma Station have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montezuma Station
- Montezuma Station is located in Vermillion County
- Pottertown ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottertown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottertown
- Pottertown is located in Parke County
- Randall
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Sandytown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandytown
- Sandytown is located in Vermillion County
- Summit Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Grove
- Summit Grove is located in Vermillion County
How Far From Alta 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 Alta to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alta and extending to:
- Newport, which is the Seat of Vermillion County, lies just to the North.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Alta to Indianapolis, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 555 miles [893.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,275 miles [10,098.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,007 miles [11,276.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,886 miles [7,863.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alta. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Alta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7730, Longitude: -87.3864 |
| <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 Alta, 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 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 Alta 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Alta 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 314.269 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.842 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.039 degrees. |