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The Commemorative Quarter for Kansas





Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 North Topeka:
    • 39.074088, -95.662806
    • 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 North Topeka
  • 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

Curious and Interesting Names Near North Topeka ...

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.

  • Big Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Carbondale
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbondale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
    • Carbondale is located in Osage County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,347 people
  • Dover
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Grantville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grantville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
    • Grantville is located in Jefferson County
  • Grove
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove
    • Grove is located in Shawnee County
  • Grover
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grover. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
    • Grover is located in Douglas County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Grover
    • From North Topeka to Grover
  • Indian Ridge
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Ridge
    • Indian Ridge is located in Jefferson County
  • Lake Shore
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Shore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
    • Lake Shore is located in Jefferson County
  • Mineral Springs
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Rock Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Silver Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
    • Silver Lake is located in Shawnee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,395 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Lake <2>
  • Swissvale
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swissvale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swissvale
    • Swissvale is located in Osage County

How Far From North Topeka 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 community such as North Topeka to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in North Topeka and extending to:

  • Topeka, which is the Seat of Shawnee County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies just to the south southwest (SSW).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 998 miles [1,606.1 km]<4> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from North Topeka to White House, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 57 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,611 miles [10,639.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,358 miles [11,841.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,250 miles [8,449.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for North Topeka. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Shawnee County: www.co.shawnee.ks.us/

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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- North Topeka) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in North Topeka. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0741, Longitude: -95.6628    
<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 North Topeka 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 319.774 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.088 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.203 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025