Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Surprise, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Surprise and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Surprise
- 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 Surprise:
- 38.970608, -86.058871
- 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 Surprise
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Surprise is near Bartholomew County and also Brown County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Bartholomew County
- eBird sighting report for Brown 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 Surprise ...
We found ten communities that share the name Surprise.
Within Indiana, the name Surprise is unique.
Beyond Indiana, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- British Columbia
- This Surprise lies 2,486 miles [4,000.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Surprise that is located in Jackson County.
- California
- Kansas
- Grant County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Surprise [Grant County].
- Hamilton 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 Surprise [Hamilton County].
- Nebraska
- New York
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Surprise ...
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.
- Acme
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Bald Knobs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bald Knobs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Knobs
- Bald Knobs is located in Jackson County
- Bobtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Buffalo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Clear Spring
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clear Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Spring
- Clear Spring is located in Jackson County
- Freetown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freetown
- Freetown is located in Jackson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freetown <5>
- Hangman Crossing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hangman Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hangman Crossing
- Hangman Crossing is located in Jackson County
- Mount Healthy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Healthy have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Healthy
- Mount Healthy is located in Bartholomew County
- Shields
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Spraytown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
How Far From Surprise 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 community such as Surprise to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Surprise and extending to:
- Brownstown, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies just to the South.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Surprise to Indianapolis, with an average speed<7> 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 over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 484 miles [778.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,262 miles [10,077.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,989 miles [11,247.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,865 miles [7,829.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Surprise. 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Surprise) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Surprise. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9706, Longitude: -86.0589 In this case, the coordinates for Surprise have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Surprise 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> | 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 Surprise, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Surprise to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.409 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.744 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.644 degrees. |