RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Clay County >> Excelsior Springs Junction >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Excelsior Springs Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Excelsior Springs Junction and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for Excelsior Springs Junction
  • 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 Excelsior Springs Junction:
    • 39.237782, -94.240502
    • 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 Excelsior Springs Junction
  • 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 Clay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Since Excelsior Springs Junction is near Jackson County and also Ray County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ray 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 Excelsior Springs Junction

Curious and Interesting Names Near Excelsior Springs Junction ...

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.

  • Chick ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Chick is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chick
  • Cobbler
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cobbler is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbler
  • Coopers
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Coopers is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopers
  • Crescent Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Crescent Lake is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Lake
  • Crystal Lakes
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Crystal Lakes is located in Ray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lakes
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
  • Elkhorn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Elkhorn is located in Ray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Floyd
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Floyd is located in Ray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floyd
  • Golf Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Golf Hill is located in Ray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golf Hill
  • Homestead
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Homestead is located in Ray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Lake City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Lake City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
    • New Garden
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • New Garden is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Garden
    • Six-Mile
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Six-Mile is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six-Mile
    • Stockdale ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Stockdale is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockdale
    • Wood Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Wood Heights is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 700 people
    • Woods Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Woods Heights is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Heights

How Far From Excelsior Springs Junction 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 Excelsior Springs Junction to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Excelsior Springs Junction and extending to:

  • Liberty, which is the Seat of Clay County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Excelsior Springs Junction to Liberty, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 119 miles [191.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 921 miles [1,482.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 53 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,553 miles [10,546 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,297 miles [11,743.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,186 miles [8,346.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Excelsior Springs Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Excelsior Springs Junction 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 Excelsior Springs Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2378, Longitude: -94.2405       In this case, the coordinates for Excelsior Springs Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.807 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.991 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.467 degrees.