Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Polk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Polk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Polk
- 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 Polk:
- 36.608367, -97.454214
- 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 Polk
- 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 Kay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kay County
- Since Polk is near Noble County and also Grant County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Noble County
- eBird sighting report for Grant 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 Polk ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Polk.
Within Oklahoma, the name Polk is unique.
Beyond Oklahoma, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Polk ...
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.
- Deer Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
- Deer Creek is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Creek <4>
- Grainville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grainville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grainville
- Grainville is located in Kay County
- Hunter
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunter have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
- Hunter is located in Garfield County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 166 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hunter <4>
- Old Bliss
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Pond Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Creek
- Pond Creek is located in Grant County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 849 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pond Creek <4>
- Red Rock
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
- Red Rock is located in Noble County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Red Rock <4>
- Salt Fork
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Fork
- Salt Fork is located in Grant County
- White Eagle
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Eagle
- White Eagle is located in Kay County
How Far From Polk to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Polk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Polk and extending to:
- Newkirk, which is the Seat of Kay County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Polk to Newkirk, 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.
- Oklahoma City, which is the State Capital of Oklahoma, lies 79 miles [127.1 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,123 miles [1,807.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,804 miles [10,950 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,550 miles [12,150.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,438 miles [8,751.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Polk. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Oklahoma: https://www.ok.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Polk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Polk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6084, Longitude: -97.4542 In this case, the coordinates for Polk 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 Polk 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Polk 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 320.812 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.986 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.481 degrees. |