Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Benchmark, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benchmark and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Benchmark

• 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 Benchmark:
  • 44.225263, -103.578248
  • 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 Benchmark

• 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 Lawrence County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
  • Since Benchmark is near Meade County and also Pennington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Meade County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Pennington 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 Benchmark

Curious and Interesting Names Near Benchmark ...

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.

• Carwye ‑ Historic
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Carwye is located in Meade County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carwye
• Diamond City ‑ Historic
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Diamond City is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
• Galena
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Galena is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
• Greenwood
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Greenwood is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Greenwood has also been known as:
  • Laflin
• Gregory ‑ Historic
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Gregory is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
  • Estimated population in 2014: 1,264 people
• Mystic
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Mystic is located in Pennington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
• Nemo
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Nemo is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemo
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nemo <1>
• Silver City
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Silver City is located in Pennington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
  • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
• Tomahawk
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Tomahawk is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
  • Estimated population in 2014: 36 people
• Virginia ‑ Historic
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Virginia is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia

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

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

• Deadwood, which is the Seat of Lawrence County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Benchmark to Deadwood, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
• Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 159 miles [255.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,412 miles [2,272.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 56 days and walking would take 81 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,575 miles [10,581.4 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 7,340 miles [11,812.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,289 miles [8,511.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'