Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Riga, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Riga and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Riga
- 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 Riga:
- 38.950566, -99.650392
- 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 Riga
- 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 Trego County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Trego County
- Since Riga is near Ellis County and also Graham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ellis County
- eBird sighting report for Graham 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 Riga ...
We found four communities that share the name Riga.
Within Kansas, the name Riga is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New York
- North Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Riga ...
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.
- Arnold
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest) - Catharine
(23 miles [37 km] to the east) - Fort Downer
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Downer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Downer
- Fort Downer is located in Trego County
- Hays
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays
- Hays is located in Ellis County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,829 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hays <4>
- Hill City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
- Hill City is located in Graham County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,354 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hill City <4>
- Hog Back
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Plainville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)- 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 <4>
- Ransom
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransom
- Ransom is located in Ness County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ransom <4>
- Turkville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Riga 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 community such as Riga to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Riga and extending to:
- WaKeeney, which is the Seat of Trego County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Riga to WaKeeney, with an average speed<5> 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 213 miles [342.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,211 miles [1,948.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 69 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,752 miles [10,866.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,506 miles [12,079.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,409 miles [8,704.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Riga. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Riga) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riga. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9506, Longitude: -99.6504 In this case, the coordinates for Riga have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Riga, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Riga 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 322.562 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 320.313 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.243 degrees. |