Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rainbow, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rainbow and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rainbow
- 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 Rainbow:
- 47.538294, -111.199973
- 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 Rainbow
- 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 Cascade County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cascade County
- Since Rainbow is near Chouteau County and also Teton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Chouteau County
- eBird sighting report for Teton 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 Rainbow ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Rainbow.
Within Montana, the name Rainbow is unique.
Beyond Montana, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Alaska
- California
- Placer County
- This Rainbow is located in Placer County and lies 734 miles [1,181.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Rainbow that is located in Cascade County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Placer County community of Rainbow.
- San Diego County
- This Rainbow is located in San Diego County and lies 1,023 miles [1,646.4 km] to the south southwest of the Rainbow that is located in Cascade County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of Rainbow.
- Connecticut
- Indiana
- New York
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rainbow ...
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.
- Black Eagle
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Eagle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Eagle
- Black Eagle is located in Cascade County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Black Eagle <5>
- Box Elder ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Cooper
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Donovan Park ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donovan Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donovan Park
- Donovan Park is located in Cascade County
- Fields
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Great Falls
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Falls
- Great Falls is located in Cascade County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 58,353 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Great Falls <5>
- Johnstown ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Little Chicago ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Chicago have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Chicago
- Little Chicago is located in Cascade County
- Portage
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Smelter Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smelter Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smelter Hill
- Smelter Hill is located in Cascade County
How Far From Rainbow 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 Rainbow to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rainbow and extending to:
- Great Falls, which is the Seat of Cascade County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 75 miles [120.7 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Rainbow to Helena, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,802 miles [2,900 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 71 days and walking would take 103 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,569 miles [10,571.8 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 7,338 miles [11,809.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,360 miles [8,626.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rainbow. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Cascade County: www.co.cascade.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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rainbow) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rainbow. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.5383, Longitude: -111.2000 In this case, the coordinates for Rainbow 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Rainbow 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> | 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 Rainbow, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Rainbow 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 331.842 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 331.98 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.634 degrees. |