RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Saline County >> Falun >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Falun:
    • 38.671016, -97.759893
    • 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 Falun
  • 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 Saline County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saline County
    • Since Falun is near McPherson County and also Ellsworth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McPherson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ellsworth 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 Falun

Communities Also Named Falun ...

We found two communities that are also named Falun.

Within Kansas, the name Falun is unique.

Beyond Kansas, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Falun lies 1,247 miles [2,006.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Falun that is located in Saline County.
    • Wisconsin
      • Burnett County
      • This Falun is located in Burnett County and lies 558 miles [898 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Falun that is located in Saline County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Burnett County community of Falun.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Falun ...

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.

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Falun and extending to:

  • Salina, which is the Seat of Saline County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Falun to Salina, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 115 miles [185.1 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 1,113 miles [1,791.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,704 miles [10,789 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,454 miles [11,996.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,351 miles [8,611.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Falun) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Falun 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 Falun. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6710, Longitude: -97.7599    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.203 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.696 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.322 degrees.