Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Scenic, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Scenic and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Scenic
- 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 Scenic:
- 43.779714, -102.554896
- 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 Scenic
- 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 Scenic is near Custer County and also Oglala Lakota County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Custer County
- eBird sighting report for Oglala Lakota 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 Scenic ...
We found one communities that share the name Scenic.
Within South Dakota, the name Scenic is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, there is another community also named Scenic in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Scenic ...
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.
- Interior
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interior
- Interior is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Interior <2>
- Red Shirt
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest) - Rockyford
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockyford
- Rockyford is located in Oglala Lakota County
- Wicksville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wicksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wicksville
- Wicksville is located in Pennington County
How Far From Scenic 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 Scenic to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Scenic and extending to:
- Rapid City, which is the Seat of Pennington County, lies 39 miles [62.8 km]<4> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Scenic to Rapid City, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 118 miles [189.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,359 miles [2,187.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 53 days and walking would take 78 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,572 miles [10,576.6 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 7,335 miles [11,804.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,276 miles [8,490.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Scenic. 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Scenic 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Scenic) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Scenic. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7797, Longitude: -102.5549 |
| <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 Scenic 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 325.007 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 323.711 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.059 degrees. |