Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rolla, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rolla and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rolla
- 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 Rolla:
- 37.117964, -101.631790
- 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 Rolla
- 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 Morton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Morton County
- Since Rolla is near Stevens County and also Texas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Stevens County
- eBird sighting report for Texas 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 Rolla ...
We found eight communities that share the name Rolla.
Within Kansas, the name Rolla is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- British Columbia
- This Rolla lies 1,556 miles [2,504.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Rolla that is located in Morton County.
- Colorado
- Missouri
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rolla ...
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.
- Elkhart
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhart have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhart
- Elkhart is located in Morton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,727 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhart <5>
- Hooker
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Hooker is located in Texas County (OK)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,843 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hooker <5>
- Julian
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north) - Moscow
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moscow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Moscow is located in Stevens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
- Former name for Moscow:
- Mosco
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moscow <5>
- Mouser
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast) - Optima
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast) - Straight
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight
- Straight is located in Texas County (OK)
- Unity
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
How Far From Rolla 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 Rolla to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rolla and extending to:
- Elkhart, which is the Seat of Morton County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rolla to Elkhart, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 349 miles [561.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,339 miles [2,154.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 53 days and walking would take 76 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,917 miles [11,131.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,672 miles [12,346.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,575 miles [8,972.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rolla. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Morton County: www.mtcoks.com/
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rolla) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rolla. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1180, Longitude: -101.6318 In this case, the coordinates for Rolla 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 Rolla, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Rolla 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. |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Rolla to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 323.806 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 321.554 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.493 degrees. |