Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Orton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Orton
- 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 Orton:
- 44.710260, -100.842092
- 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 Orton
- 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 Stanley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Stanley County
- Since Orton is near Dewey County and also Sully County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Dewey County
- eBird sighting report for Sully 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 Orton ...
We found nine communities that share the name Orton.
Within South Dakota, the name Orton is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- Arkansas
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Massachusetts
- North Carolina
- Ontario
- This Orton lies 1,018 miles [1,638.3 km]<1> to the east of the Orton that is located in Stanley County.
- Utah
- West Virginia
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Orton ...
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.
- Eagle Butte
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Butte have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Butte
- Eagle Butte is located in Dewey County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,418 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Butte <4>
- Gray Goose
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gray Goose have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Goose
- Gray Goose is located in Hughes County
- Lacy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast) - Parade
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parade
- Parade is located in Dewey County
- Estimated population in 2014: 34 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parade <4>
- Ridgeview
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ridgeview have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
- Ridgeview is located in Dewey County
- Estimated population in 2014: 47 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ridgeview <4>
How Far From Orton to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Orton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Orton and extending to:
- Fort Pierre, which is the Seat of Stanley County, lies 33 miles [53.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Orton to Fort Pierre, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 34 miles [54.7 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,283 miles [2,064.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 51 days and walking would take 73 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,470 miles [10,412.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,233 miles [11,640.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,171 miles [8,321.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of South Dakota: 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Orton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7103, Longitude: -100.8421 In this case, the coordinates for Orton 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 Orton 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 Orton 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 323.777 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 322.399 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.92 degrees. |