Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rochford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rochford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rochford
- 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 Rochford:
- 44.124433, -103.719512
- 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 Rochford
- 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 Rochford is near Lawrence County and also Meade County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rochford ...
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.
- Benchmark
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Copper Camp ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copper Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Camp
- Copper Camp is located in Pennington County
- Diamond City ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
- Diamond City is located in Lawrence County
- Florence ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Greenwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Greenwood is located in Lawrence County
- Greenwood has also been known as:
- Laflin
- Gregory ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Mystic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
- Mystic is located in Pennington County
- Redfern
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Silver City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tigerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigerville
- Tigerville is located in Pennington County
How Far From Rochford 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 Rochford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Rochford and extending to:
- Rapid City, which is the Seat of Pennington County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Rochford to Rapid City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days 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 168 miles [270.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,419 miles [2,283.7 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 6,585 miles [10,597.5 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 7,350 miles [11,828.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,299 miles [8,527.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rochford. 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> | 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. |
| <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- Rochford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rochford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1244, Longitude: -103.7195 |
| <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 Rochford to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.897 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.778 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.665 degrees. |