RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> Ouray County >> Ridgway >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Ridgway, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ridgway and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Ridgway:
    • 38.151449, -107.757647
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Ridgway
  • 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 Ouray County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ouray County
    • Since Ridgway is near San Miguel County and also Montrose County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Miguel County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montrose 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Ridgway

Communities Also Named Ridgway ...

We found three communities that are also named Ridgway.

Within Colorado, the name Ridgway is unique.

Beyond Colorado, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Ridgway is located in Hillsborough County and lies 1,613 miles [2,595.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Ridgway that is located in Ouray County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Ridgway.
    • Illinois
      • Gallatin County
      • This Ridgway is located in Gallatin County and lies 1,059 miles [1,704.3 km]<1> to the east of the Ridgway that is located in Ouray County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gallatin County community of Ridgway.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Elk County
      • This Ridgway is located in Elk County and lies 1,549 miles [2,492.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ridgway that is located in Ouray County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elk County community of Ridgway.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ridgway ...

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.

  • Brown
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Brown is located in San Miguel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown
  • Camp Bird ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Camp Bird is located in Ouray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Bird
  • Keystone ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Leonard ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Leonard is located in San Miguel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
  • Liberty Bell ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Lime
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lime is located in San Miguel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime
  • Loghill Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Loghill Village is located in Ouray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loghill Village
  • Mountain Village
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Telluride
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Thistledown
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Thistledown is located in Ouray County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistledown
  • Tomboy ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)

How Far From Ridgway 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 town such as Ridgway to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ridgway and extending to:

  • Ouray, which is the Seat of Ouray County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ridgway to Ouray, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 184 miles [296.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,652 miles [2,658.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 65 days and walking would take 94 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,045 miles [11,337.8 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 7,809 miles [12,567.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,746 miles [9,247.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ridgway) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Ridgway to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ridgway. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1514, Longitude: -107.7576    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.454 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.144 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.63 degrees.