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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rapid City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rapid City and the surrounding area.
- 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 Rapid City:
- 44.834449, -85.282562
- 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.
- Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Rapid City
- 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 Kalkaska County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Kalkaska County
- Since Rapid City is near Antrim County and also Grand Traverse County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Antrim County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Grand Traverse 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Rapid City
Communities Also Named Rapid City ...
We found two communities that are also named Rapid City.
Within Michigan, the name Rapid City is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Manitoba
- This Rapid City lies 777 miles [1,250.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Rapid City that is located in Kalkaska County.
- South Dakota
- Pennington County
- This Rapid City is located in Pennington County and lies 884 miles [1,422.7 km]<1> to the west of the Rapid City that is located in Kalkaska County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pennington County community of Rapid City.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rapid City ...
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.
- Acme
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Angel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Angel is located in Grand Traverse County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel
- Angel has also been known as:
- Angel Station
- Angell Station
- Clam Lake ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Clam Lake is located in Antrim County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clam Lake
- Clam River
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Clam River is located in Antrim County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clam River
- Cotton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cotton is located in Kalkaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton
- Devils Elbow
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Devils Elbow is located in Grand Traverse County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devils Elbow
- Elk Rapids
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Fivemile Corner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Fivemile Corner is located in Grand Traverse County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivemile Corner
- Jacks Landing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jacks Landing is located in Grand Traverse County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacks Landing
- Mabel
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mabel is located in Grand Traverse County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
- Snowflake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Snowflake is located in Antrim County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowflake
- Torch River
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Torch River is located in Kalkaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Torch River
How Far From Rapid City 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 Rapid City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rapid City and extending to:
- Kalkaska, which is the Seat of Kalkaska County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 149 miles [239.8 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Rapid City to Lansing, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 589 miles [947.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,956 miles [9,585.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,698 miles [10,779.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,587 miles [7,382.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
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- Rapid City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Rapid City to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rapid City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8344, Longitude: -85.2826 In this case, the coordinates for Rapid City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.786 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.889 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.426 degrees. |
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