Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fergus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fergus and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fergus
- 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 Fergus:
- 47.330813, -109.067109
- 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 Fergus
- 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 Fergus County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fergus County
- Since Fergus is near Petroleum County and also Blaine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Petroleum 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 Fergus ...
We found five communities that share the name Fergus.
Within Montana, the name Fergus is unique.
Beyond Montana, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colorado
- Michigan
- Ontario
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fergus ...
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.
- Box Elder ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Canyon ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Giltedge ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giltedge
- Giltedge is located in Fergus County
- Maiden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden
- Maiden is located in Fergus County
- Nelson ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest) - New Year
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest) - Roy Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Roy Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Junction
- Roy Junction is located in Fergus County
- Ruby Gulch ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruby Gulch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby Gulch
- Ruby Gulch is located in Fergus County
- Rustle ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Fergus to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Fergus to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fergus and extending to:
- Lewistown, which is the Seat of Fergus County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Fergus to Lewistown, with an average speed<5> 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 148 miles [238.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 1,701 miles [2,737.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 67 days and walking would take 97 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,534 miles [10,515.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,302 miles [11,751.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,307 miles [8,540.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fergus. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Fergus County: www.co.fergus.mt.us/
The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- Fergus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fergus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.3308, Longitude: -109.0671 In this case, the coordinates for Fergus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Fergus 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> | 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. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Fergus to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 330.155 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 330.018 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.343 degrees. |