Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Spearfish, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spearfish and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Spearfish
- 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 Spearfish:
- 44.488873, -103.847703
- 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 Spearfish
- 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 Lawrence County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
- Since Spearfish is near Butte County and also Crook County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Butte County
- eBird sighting report for Crook 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 Spearfish ...
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.
- Beaver Crossing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Crossing
- Beaver Crossing is located in Lawrence County
- Blacktail
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Carbonate ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Crook City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crook City
- Crook City is located in Lawrence County
- Deadwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deadwood
- Deadwood is located in Lawrence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,294 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deadwood <2>
- Elizabethtown ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabethtown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
- Elizabethtown is located in Lawrence County
- Gayville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Jolly
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Jolly Dump
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jolly Dump have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly Dump
- Jolly Dump is located in Butte County
- Lead
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lead have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lead
- Lead is located in Lawrence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,947 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lead <2>
- Ragged Top ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ragged Top have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragged Top
- Ragged Top is located in Lawrence County
- Estimated population in 2014: 73 people
- Terry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Trojan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trojan
- Trojan is located in Lawrence County
- Estimated population in 2014: 627 people
How Far From Spearfish to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Spearfish to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Spearfish and extending to:
- Deadwood, which is the Seat of Lawrence County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Spearfish to Deadwood, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 173 miles [278.4 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 1,428 miles [2,298.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 56 days and walking would take 82 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,567 miles [10,568.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,333 miles [11,801.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,285 miles [8,505.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Spearfish: www.city.spearfish.sd.us/
The official website for Lawrence County: www.lawrence.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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Spearfish) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spearfish. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.4889, Longitude: -103.8477 In this case, the coordinates for Spearfish have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Spearfish to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.013 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.951 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.68 degrees. |