Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Hays, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hays and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Hays
- 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 Hays:
- 38.879782, -99.317854
- 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 Hays
- 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 Ellis County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Ellis County
- Since Hays is near Russell County and also Rush County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Russell County
- eBird sighting report for Rush 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 Hays ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Hays.
Within Kansas, the name Hays is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Hays lies 982 miles [1,580.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Hays that is located in Ellis County.
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Jefferson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Hays [Jefferson County].
- Scott County
- This Hays is located in Scott County and lies 708 miles [1,139.4 km]<1> to the southeast of the Hays that is located in Ellis County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Hays.
- Washington County
- This Hays is located in Washington County and lies 604 miles [972 km] to the southeast of the Hays that is located in Ellis County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Hays.
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Allegheny County
- This Hays is located in Allegheny County and lies 1,033 miles [1,662.5 km]<1> to the east of the Hays that is located in Ellis County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Hays.
- Fayette County
- This Hays is located in Fayette County and lies 1,042 miles [1,676.9 km] to the east of the Hays that is located in Ellis County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Hays.
- Tennessee
- Texas
- West Virginia
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hays ...
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.
- Bison
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south) - Catharine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Fairport
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast) - Hog Back
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hog Back. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hog Back
- Hog Back is located in Ellis County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Hog Back
- From Hays to Hog Back
- Homer
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east) - La Crosse
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Crosse
- La Crosse is located in Rush County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,197 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Crosse <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to La Crosse
- From Hays to La Crosse
- Paradise
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast) - Plainville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
- Plainville is located in Rooks County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,768 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plainville <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Plainville
- From Hays to Plainville
- Turkville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Turkville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkville
- Turkville is located in Ellis County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Turkville
- From Hays to Turkville
How Far From Hays 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 Hays to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hays and extending to:
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 195 miles [313.8 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Hays to Topeka, with an average speed<7>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,194 miles [1,921.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 68 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,745 miles [10,855 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,498 miles [12,066.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,400 miles [8,690.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Hays: www.haysusa.com/
The official website for Ellis County: www.ellisco.net/
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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hays) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hays. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8798, Longitude: -99.3179 |
| <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 Hays 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 Hays, 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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Hays to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 322.319 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 320.021 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.082 degrees. |