Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wakarusa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wakarusa and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Wakarusa
- 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 Wakarusa:
- 38.885836, -95.695816
- 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 Wakarusa
- 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 Shawnee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Shawnee County
- Since Wakarusa is near Osage County and also Douglas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Osage County
- eBird sighting report for Douglas 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 Wakarusa ...
We found three communities that share the name Wakarusa.
There are two communities within Kansas that are also named Wakarusa.
Beyond Kansas, there is another community also named Wakarusa in the United States.
- Communities Located In Kansas ...
- Douglas County
- Osage County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Wakarusa ...
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
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
- Big Springs is located in Douglas County
- Carbondale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbondale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Dover is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dover <5>
- Four Corners
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
- Four Corners is located in Osage County
- Grantville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grantville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Grantville is located in Jefferson County
- Harveyville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harveyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveyville
- Harveyville is located in Wabaunsee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
- Michigan Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigan Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Valley
- Michigan Valley is located in Osage County
- Mineral Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Mineral Springs is located in Osage County
- Swissvale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Wakarusa 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 Wakarusa to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Wakarusa and extending to:
- Topeka, which is the Seat of Shawnee County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Wakarusa to Topeka, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 11 miles [17.7 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,001 miles [1,611 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 57 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,622 miles [10,657.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,369 miles [11,859.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,260 miles [8,465.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Wakarusa. 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> | 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 Wakarusa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Wakarusa 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Wakarusa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wakarusa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8858, Longitude: -95.6958 In this case, the coordinates for Wakarusa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Wakarusa 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 319.784 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.076 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.254 degrees. |