Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Balta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balta and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Balta
- 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 Balta:
- 38.885243, -98.910224
- 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 Balta
- 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 Russell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Russell County
- Since Balta is near Ellis County and also Barton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ellis County
- eBird sighting report for Barton 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 Balta ...
We found two communities that share the name Balta.
Within Kansas, the name Balta is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- North Dakota
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Balta ...
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.
- Beaver
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast) - Catharine
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west) - Cheyenne
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast) - Fairport
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Hays
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays
- Hays is located in Ellis County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,829 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hays <3>
- Homer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Lucas
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas
- Lucas is located in Russell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lucas <3>
- Paradise
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north) - Turkville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest) - Waldo
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldo
- Waldo is located in Russell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 29 people
- Former name for Waldo:
- Pleasant Run
How Far From Balta 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 Balta 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<4> community of Balta once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Balta and extending to:
- Russell, which is the Seat of Russell County, lies just to the East.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 173 miles [278.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Balta to Topeka, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,172 miles [1,886.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,731 miles [10,832.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,483 miles [12,042.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,384 miles [8,664.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Balta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Balta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8852, Longitude: -98.9102 In this case, the coordinates for Balta have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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 Balta, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Balta 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 322.03 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.686 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.873 degrees. |