Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alta Mills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alta Mills and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alta Mills
- 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 Mills:
- 38.117788, -97.591987
- 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 Mills
- 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 Harvey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Harvey County
- Since Alta Mills is near McPherson County and also Reno County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for McPherson County
- eBird sighting report for Reno 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alta Mills ...
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.
- Elmer
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest) - Groveland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Haven
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven
- Haven is located in Reno County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,184 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haven <2>
- Moundridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moundridge
- Moundridge is located in McPherson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,861 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moundridge <2>
- Mount Hope
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Sedgwick County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Hope <2>
- Punkin Center ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Punkin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Punkin Center
- Punkin Center is located in Reno County
- Sand Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Creek
- Sand Creek is located in Harvey County
- Willowbrook
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willowbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook
- Willowbrook is located in Reno County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
How Far From Alta Mills 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 Alta Mills to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Alta Mills once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Alta Mills and extending to:
- Newton, which is the Seat of Harvey County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<4> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Alta Mills to Newton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 121 miles [194.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,109 miles [1,784.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 63 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,728 miles [10,827.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- 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 northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,371 miles [8,643.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Harvey County: www.harveycounty.com/
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Alta Mills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Alta Mills) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alta Mills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1178, Longitude: -97.5920 In this case, the coordinates for Alta Mills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Alta Mills 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 321.041 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.44 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.325 degrees. |