Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fontana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fontana and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fontana
- 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 Fontana:
- 38.423753, -94.843876
- 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 Fontana
- 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 Miami County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Miami County
- Since Fontana is near Linn County and also Franklin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Linn County
- eBird sighting report for Franklin 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 Fontana ...
We found four communities that share the name Fontana.
Within Kansas, the name Fontana is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Kentucky
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fontana ...
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.
- Amsterdam
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amsterdam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam
- Amsterdam is located in Bates County (MO)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Amsterdam <4>
- Beagle
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Block
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Block
- Block is located in Miami County
- Centerville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Linn County
- Henson
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Jingo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jingo
- Jingo is located in Miami County
- Lane
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Lane is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Lane has also been known as:
- Lane City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <4>
- Louisburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Louisburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
- Louisburg is located in Miami County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,590 people
- Former name for Louisburg:
- New Saint Lewis
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisburg <4>
- Mulberry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast) - Trading Post
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trading Post have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trading Post
- Trading Post is located in Linn County
How Far From Fontana 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 city such as Fontana to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fontana and extending to:
- Paola, which is the Seat of Miami County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Fontana to Paola, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 62 miles [99.8 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 959 miles [1,543.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,616 miles [10,647.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,360 miles [11,844.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,248 miles [8,445.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fontana. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Miami County: www.co.miami.ks.us/
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fontana) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fontana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4238, Longitude: -94.8439 In this case, the coordinates for Fontana 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 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 Fontana 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Fontana 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 319.169 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.304 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.918 degrees. |