Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Colby, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Colby and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Colby
- 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 Colby:
- 39.387782, -101.046266
- 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 Colby
- 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 Thomas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Thomas County
- Since Colby is near Rawlins County and also Logan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rawlins County
- eBird sighting report for Logan 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 Colby ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Colby.
Within Kansas, the name Colby is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Manitoba
- This Colby lies 769 miles [1,237.6 km]<1> to the north of the Colby that is located in Thomas County.
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New Hampshire
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Colby ...
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.
- Gem
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Mingo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Monument
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument
- Monument is located in Logan County
- Page City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page City
- Page City is located in Logan County
How Far From Colby 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 city such as Colby to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Colby and extending to:
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 288 miles [463.5 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Colby to Topeka, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 17 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 12 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,282 miles [2,063.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 73 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,772 miles [10,898.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,529 miles [12,116.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,440 miles [8,754.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Colby: www.cityofcolby.com/
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Colby) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Colby. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3878, Longitude: -101.0463 In this case, the coordinates for Colby 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Colby 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 Colby, 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 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 Colby 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 323.60 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 321.576 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.906 degrees. |