Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Spokane, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spokane and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Spokane
- 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 Spokane:
- 47.669546, -117.411120
- 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 Spokane
- 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 Spokane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Spokane County
- Since Spokane is near Kootenai County and also Stevens County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kootenai County
- eBird sighting report for Stevens 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 Spokane ...
We found six communities that share the name Spokane.
Within Washington, the name Spokane is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- South Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Spokane ...
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.
- Airway Heights
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airway Heights
- Airway Heights is located in Spokane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,618 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Airway Heights <4>
- Chester
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Dishman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Geiger Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geiger Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geiger Heights
- Geiger Heights is located in Spokane County
- Hayford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Highland
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Hillyard
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillyard
- Hillyard is located in Spokane County
- Irwin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Irwin is located in Spokane County
- Lyons
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Marshall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
- Marshall is located in Spokane County
- Mead
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mead
- Mead is located in Spokane County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mead <4>
- Opportunity
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opportunity
- Opportunity is located in Spokane County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Orchard Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Park have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Park
- Orchard Park is located in Spokane County
- Orchard Prairie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Prairie
- Orchard Prairie is located in Spokane County
- Scribner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Seven Mile
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seven Mile have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Mile
- Seven Mile is located in Spokane County
- Orchard Park
How Far From Spokane 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 city such as Spokane to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Spokane and extending to:
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 260 miles [418.4 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Spokane to Olympia, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,091 miles [3,365.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 82 days and walking would take 119 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,686 miles [10,760.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,453 miles [11,994.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,528 miles [8,896.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Spokane: www.spokanecity.org/
The official website for Spokane County: www.spokanecounty.org/
The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spokane) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spokane. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6695, Longitude: -117.4111 |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Spokane 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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Spokane, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Spokane to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.834 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.753 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.551 degrees. |