Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Fork, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Fork and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Fork
- 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 West Fork:
- 44.445818, -101.548478
- 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 West Fork
- 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 Haakon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Haakon County
- Since West Fork is near Ziebach County and also Stanley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ziebach County
- eBird sighting report for Stanley 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 West Fork ...
We found twelve communities that share the name West Fork.
Within South Dakota, the name West Fork is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Delaware
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Allen County
- This West Fork is located in Allen County and lies 956 miles [1,538.5 km]<1> to the east southeast of the West Fork that is located in Haakon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allen County community of West Fork.
- Christian County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of West Fork [Christian County].
- Missouri
- Montana
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Fork ...
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.
- Bunker ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast) - Cherry Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Cherry Creek is located in Ziebach County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cherry Creek <4>
- Elevenmile Corner
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elevenmile Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elevenmile Corner
- Elevenmile Corner is located in Haakon County
- Grindstone
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grindstone have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grindstone
- Grindstone is located in Haakon County
- Milesville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milesville
- Milesville is located in Haakon County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milesville <4>
- Red Scaffold
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Scaffold have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Scaffold
- Red Scaffold is located in Ziebach County
- Estimated population in 2014: 372 people
How Far From West Fork 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 community such as West Fork to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Fork and extending to:
- Philip, which is the Seat of Haakon County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Fork to Philip, with an average speed<5> 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 just over a day.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 60 miles [96.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,315 miles [2,116.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 52 days and walking would take 75 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,505 miles [10,468.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,269 miles [11,698.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,208 miles [8,381.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Fork. 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 '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- West Fork) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Fork. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.4458, Longitude: -101.5485 In this case, the coordinates for West Fork 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 West Fork 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 West Fork 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 324.29 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 322.96 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.371 degrees. |