RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Dakota >> Butte County >> Fruitdale >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Fruitdale:
    • 44.668318, -103.696030
    • 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 Fruitdale
  • 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 Butte County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Butte County
    • Since Fruitdale is near Lawrence County and also Meade County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Meade 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 Fruitdale

Communities Also Named Fruitdale ...

We found seven communities that are also named Fruitdale.

Within South Dakota, the name Fruitdale is unique.

Beyond South Dakota, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Washington County
      • This Fruitdale is located in Washington County and lies 1,236 miles [1,989.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Fruitdale that is located in Butte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Fruitdale.
    • California
      • San Diego County
      • This Fruitdale is located in San Diego County and lies 1,099 miles [1,768.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Fruitdale that is located in Butte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of Fruitdale.
      • Santa Clara County
      • This Fruitdale is located in Santa Clara County and lies 1,074 miles [1,728.4 km] to the west southwest of the Fruitdale that is located in Butte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Clara County community of Fruitdale.
    • Indiana
      • Brown County
      • This Fruitdale is located in Brown County and lies 965 miles [1,553 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Fruitdale that is located in Butte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brown County community of Fruitdale.
    • Ohio
      • Ross County
      • This Fruitdale is located in Ross County and lies 1,105 miles [1,778.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Fruitdale that is located in Butte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ross County community of Fruitdale.
    • Oregon
      • Josephine County
      • This Fruitdale is located in Josephine County and lies 991 miles [1,594.9 km]<1> to the west of the Fruitdale that is located in Butte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Josephine County community of Fruitdale.
    • Texas
      • Dallas County
      • This Fruitdale is located in Dallas County and lies 905 miles [1,456.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Fruitdale that is located in Butte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dallas County community of Fruitdale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fruitdale ...

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.

  • Blacktail
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Blacktail is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blacktail
  • Carbonate ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Carbonate is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbonate
  • Centennial City ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Centennial City is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centennial City
  • Crook City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Crook City is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crook City
  • Deadwood
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Elizabethtown ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Elizabethtown is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
  • Empire
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Empire is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
  • Gayville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Gayville is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gayville
  • Jolly
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jolly is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
  • Jolly Dump
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jolly Dump is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly Dump
  • Spearfish
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fruitdale and extending to:

  • Belle Fourche, which is the Seat of Butte County, lies just to the West.
  • Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 165 miles [265.5 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Fruitdale to Pierre, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,422 miles [2,288.5 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 6,553 miles [10,546 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 northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,271 miles [8,482.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Fruitdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Fruitdale 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 Fruitdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.6683, Longitude: -103.6960       In this case, the coordinates for Fruitdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.907 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.849 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.562 degrees.