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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shonkin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shonkin and the surrounding area.
- 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 Shonkin:
- 47.628859, -110.572712
- 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 Shonkin
- 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:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Chouteau County
- Since Shonkin is near Cascade County and also Fergus County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Cascade County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fergus 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 Shonkin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shonkin ...
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.
- Big Sag
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Big Sag is located in Chouteau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sag
- Carter
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Geraldine
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Highwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Lonetree ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lonetree is located in Chouteau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonetree
- Pack and Lacey Crossing
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Rogers
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Rogers is located in Cascade County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Shepherd Crossing
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Shepherd Crossing is located in Chouteau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherd Crossing
- Square Butte
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Square Butte is located in Chouteau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Square Butte
How Far From Shonkin 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 Shonkin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Shonkin and extending to:
- Fort Benton, which is the Seat of Chouteau County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shonkin to Fort Benton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 98 miles [157.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,774 miles [2,855 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 70 days and walking would take 101 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,550 miles [10,541.2 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 7,319 miles [11,778.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,336 miles [8,587.5 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 '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- Shonkin) 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 Shonkin 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 Shonkin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6289, Longitude: -110.5727 In this case, the coordinates for Shonkin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 331.35 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 331.421 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.23 degrees. |
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