Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Box Elder, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Box Elder and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Box Elder
- 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 Box Elder:
- 48.317737, -110.014336
- 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 Box Elder
- 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 Chouteau County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Chouteau County
- Since Box Elder is near Hill County and also Blaine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hill County
- eBird sighting report for Blaine 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 Box Elder ...
We found nine communities that share the name Box Elder.
There are three communities within Montana that are also named Box Elder.
Beyond Montana, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Montana ...
- Cascade County
- Fergus County
- Phillips County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Nebraska
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Box Elder ...
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.
- Beaver Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
- Beaver Creek is located in Hill County
- Big Sandy
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sandy
- Big Sandy is located in Chouteau County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Sandy <5>
- Coal Banks Landing
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coal Banks Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Banks Landing
- Coal Banks Landing is located in Chouteau County
- Cypress ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast) - Lonesome Prairie ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lonesome Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonesome Prairie
- Lonesome Prairie is located in Chouteau County
- Oscar ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east) - Rocky Boy
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Rocky Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Crossing
- Rocky Crossing is located in Chouteau County
- Saddle Butte
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saddle Butte have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddle Butte
- Saddle Butte is located in Hill County
How Far From Box Elder 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 Box Elder to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Box Elder and extending to:
- Fort Benton, which is the Seat of Chouteau County, lies 44 miles [70.8 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Box Elder to Fort Benton, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 151 miles [243 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,755 miles [2,824.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 69 days and walking would take 100 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,496 miles [10,454.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,265 miles [11,691.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,283 miles [8,502.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Box Elder. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Chouteau County: www.co.chouteau.mt.us/
The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.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 Box Elder, 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Box Elder 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Box Elder) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Box Elder. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.3177, Longitude: -110.0143 |
| <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 Box Elder 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 330.936 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 331.008 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.779 degrees. |