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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Kalispell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Kalispell 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 Kalispell:
    • 48.202138, -114.315151
    • 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 Kalispell
  • 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 Flathead County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Flathead County
    • Since Kalispell is near Lake County and also Sanders County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sanders 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 Kalispell

Curious and Interesting Names Near Kalispell ...

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.

  • Evergreen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Halfmoon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Happy Haven
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Happy Haven is located in Flathead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Haven
  • Jessup
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jessup is located in Flathead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jessup
  • Lazy Day Court
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Lazy Day Court is located in Flathead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lazy Day Court
  • Mud Lake ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Mud Lake is located in Flathead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Lake
  • Rose Crossing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Rose Crossing is located in Flathead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Crossing
  • Round Prairie
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Round Prairie is located in Flathead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Prairie
  • Swan River ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Swan River is located in Flathead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan River
  • Whitefish
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 154 miles [247.8 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Kalispell to Helena, 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 1,950 miles [3,138.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 77 days and walking would take 111 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,594 miles [10,612 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 7,362 miles [11,848 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,414 miles [8,713 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Kalispell) 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 Kalispell 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 Kalispell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.2021, Longitude: -114.3152    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 334.355 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.93 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 322.509 degrees.