Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Bend, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Bend and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Bend
- 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 Big Bend:
- 44.065543, -103.414632
- 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 Big Bend
- 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 Pennington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pennington County
- Since Big Bend is near Meade County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Meade County
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Big Bend ...
We found 23 communities that share the name Big Bend.
Within South Dakota, the name Big Bend is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another 23 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Butte County
- This Big Bend is located in Butte County and lies 973 miles [1,565.9 km]<2> to the west of the Big Bend that is located in Pennington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butte County community of Big Bend.
- Calaveras County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Calaveras County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calaveras County community of Big Bend.
- Placer County
- This Big Bend is located in Placer County and lies 939 miles [1,511.2 km] to the west southwest of the Big Bend that is located in Pennington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Placer County community of Big Bend.
- Shasta County
- This Big Bend is located in Shasta County and lies 961 miles [1,546.6 km] to the west of the Big Bend that is located in Pennington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Big Bend.
- Sonoma County
- This Big Bend is located in Sonoma County and lies 1,065 miles [1,714 km] to the west southwest of the Big Bend that is located in Pennington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sonoma County community of Big Bend.
- Colorado
- Florida
- Kansas
- Jewell County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Big Bend [Jewell County].
- Phillips County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Big Bend [Phillips County].
- Republic County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Big Bend [Republic County].
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Maries County
- This Big Bend is located in Maries County and lies 722 miles [1,161.9 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Big Bend that is located in Pennington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maries County community of Big Bend.
- Saint Louis County
- Although located in Saint Louis County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Big Bend.
- New York
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- Mercer County
- This Big Bend is located in Mercer County and lies 1,184 miles [1,905.5 km]<2> to the east of the Big Bend that is located in Pennington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Big Bend.
- Venango County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Big Bend [Venango County].
- Warren County
- This Big Bend is located in Warren County and lies 1,238 miles [1,992.4 km] to the east of the Big Bend that is located in Pennington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Big Bend.
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Bend ...
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.
- Blackhawk
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
- Blackhawk is located in Meade County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blackhawk <4>
- Carwye ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Five Points
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Pennington County
- Kennedyville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedyville have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedyville
- Kennedyville is located in Pennington County
- Keystone
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
- Keystone is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keystone <4>
- Mystic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
- Mystic is located in Pennington County
- Nemo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemo
- Nemo is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nemo <4>
- Rapid City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid City
- Rapid City is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 78,864 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rapid City <4>
- Rockerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockerville
- Rockerville is located in Pennington County
- Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockerville <4>
- Silver City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver City have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Silver City is located in Pennington County
- Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
- Summerset
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset
- Summerset is located in Meade County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,691 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summerset <4>
- Tomahawk
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Big Bend 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 Big Bend to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Bend and extending to:
- Rapid City, which is the Seat of Pennington County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Big Bend to Rapid City, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 154 miles [247.8 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 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,403 miles [2,257.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,580 miles [10,589.5 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 7,344 miles [11,819 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,291 miles [8,515 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Bend. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Pennington County: www.co.pennington.sd.us/
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Big Bend 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. |
| <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- Big Bend) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Bend. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0655, Longitude: -103.4146 In this case, the coordinates for Big Bend have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Big Bend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <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 Big Bend 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 325.665 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.504 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.50 degrees. |