RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Montana >> Rosebud County >> Colstrip >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Colstrip:
    • 45.883765, -106.626742
    • 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 Colstrip
  • 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 Rosebud County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rosebud County
    • Since Colstrip is near Big Horn County and also Treasure County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Big Horn County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Treasure 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 Colstrip

Curious and Interesting Names Near Colstrip ...

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.

  • Castle Rock ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Castle Rock is located in Rosebud County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
  • Crain Place
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Crain Place is located in Rosebud County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crain Place
  • Jimtown
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jimtown is located in Rosebud County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jimtown
  • Lame Deer
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Lee ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Lee is located in Rosebud County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
  • Muddy
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Muddy is located in Big Horn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muddy
  • Signal Butte ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Signal Butte is located in Rosebud County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Signal Butte
  • Wood Place
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wood Place is located in Rosebud County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Place

How Far From Colstrip 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 city such as Colstrip to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Colstrip and extending to:

  • Forsyth, which is the Seat of Rosebud County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Colstrip to Forsyth, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 262 miles [421.6 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,573 miles [2,531.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 62 days and walking would take 90 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,560 miles [10,557.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,328 miles [11,793.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,305 miles [8,537.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Colstrip) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Colstrip 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 Colstrip. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.8838, Longitude: -106.6267    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.197 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.62 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.087 degrees.