Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Hill City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hill City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Hill City
- 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 Hill City:
- 43.931930, -103.571860
- 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 Hill City
- 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 Hill City is near Custer County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Custer 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 Hill City ...
We found eight communities that share the name Hill City.
Within South Dakota, the name Hill City is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hill City ...
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.
- Clara Belle Camp ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clara Belle Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara Belle Camp
- Clara Belle Camp is located in Pennington County
- Five Points
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Pennington County
- Frenchtown ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frenchtown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
- Frenchtown is located in Pennington County
- Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
- Junction Ranger Station
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction Ranger Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction Ranger Station
- Junction Ranger Station is located in Custer County
- Kennedyville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedyville
- Kennedyville is located in Pennington County
- Keystone
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- 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
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
- Mystic is located in Pennington County
- Redfern
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Rockerville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- 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
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
- Tigerville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tigerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigerville
- Tigerville is located in Pennington County
How Far From Hill City 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 city such as Hill City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hill City and extending to:
- Rapid City, which is the Seat of Pennington County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hill City to Rapid City, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 163 miles [262.3 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 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,410 miles [2,269.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 81 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,592 miles [10,608.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,357 miles [11,839.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,303 miles [8,534.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Hill City. 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: https://www.sd.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 from Point A (ie- Hill City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hill City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9319, Longitude: -103.5719 In this case, the coordinates for Hill City 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 Hill City 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 Hill City 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 325.776 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.617 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.612 degrees. |