RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Riley County >> Bluemont Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Bluemont Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bluemont Hill and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Bluemont Hill:
    • 39.192775, -96.560002
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Bluemont Hill
  • 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 Riley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Riley County
    • Since Bluemont Hill is near Pottawatomie County and also Wabaunsee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pottawatomie County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wabaunsee 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Bluemont Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bluemont Hill ...

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.

  • Elm Hollow Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Elm Hollow Corner is located in Riley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Hollow Corner
  • Eureka Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Eureka Lake is located in Riley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Lake
  • Flush
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Flush is located in Pottawatomie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flush
  • Louisville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Louisville is located in Pottawatomie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
    • Louisville has also been known as:
    • Louisville Springs
    • Rock City
    • Rock Creek Falls
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisville <1>
  • Pillsbury Crossing ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pillsbury Crossing is located in Riley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury Crossing
  • Rocky Ford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rocky Ford is located in Riley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
  • Sunset Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunset Park is located in Riley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Park
  • Swamp Angel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Swamp Angel is located in Pottawatomie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swamp Angel

How Far From Bluemont Hill 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 Bluemont Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Bluemont Hill and extending to:

  • Manhattan, which is the Seat of Riley County, lies just to the West.
  • Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Bluemont Hill to Topeka, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,045 miles [1,681.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 60 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,635 miles [10,678 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,384 miles [11,883.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,279 miles [8,495.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Bluemont Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Bluemont Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bluemont Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1928, Longitude: -96.5600       In this case, the coordinates for Bluemont Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.403 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.832 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.631 degrees.