Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Elkhart, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elkhart and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Elkhart
- 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 Elkhart:
- 37.003886, -101.893600
- 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 Elkhart
- 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 Morton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Morton County
- Since Elkhart is near Texas County and also Cimarron County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Texas County
- eBird sighting report for Cimarron 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 Elkhart ...
We found seven communities that share the name Elkhart.
There is one other community in Kansas which is also named Elkhart.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Kansas ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Elkhart ...
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.
- Mouser
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east) - Straight
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight
- Straight is located in Texas County (OK)
- Unity
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Elkhart 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 city such as Elkhart to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Elkhart and extending to:
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 366 miles [589 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Elkhart to Topeka, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 21 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,355 miles [2,180.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 53 days and walking would take 77 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,932 miles [11,156 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,687 miles [12,371 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,591 miles [8,997.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Elkhart: www.ci.elkhart.ks.us/
The official website for Morton County: www.mtcoks.com/
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Elkhart, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Elkhart) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elkhart. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0039, Longitude: -101.8936 In this case, the coordinates for Elkhart have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Elkhart 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. |
| <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 Elkhart 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 323.983 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 321.748 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.639 degrees. |