RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Idaho >> Custer County >> Cliff >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cliff, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cliff 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 Cliff:
    • 43.875741, -113.678082
    • 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 Cliff
  • 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 Custer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Custer County
    • Since Cliff is near Butte County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Butte 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 Cliff

Communities Also Named Cliff ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Cliff.

Within Idaho, the name Cliff is unique.

Beyond Idaho, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Boulder County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Cliff [Boulder County].
      • Jefferson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Cliff [Jefferson County].
    • Kentucky
      • Floyd County
      • This Cliff is located in Floyd County and lies 1,660 miles [2,671.5 km]<2> to the east of the Cliff that is located in Custer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Cliff.
    • Michigan
      • Keweenaw County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Cliff [Keweenaw County].
      • Cliff #
      • This community is historic<1> and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Cliff.
    • Minnesota
      • Dakota County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Cliff [Dakota County].
    • Mississippi
      • Itawamba County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Cliff [Itawamba County].
    • Missouri
      • Cape Girardeau County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Cliff [Cape Girardeau County].
    • Nebraska
      • Custer County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Custer County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Custer County community of Cliff.
    • New Mexico
      • Grant County
      • This Cliff is located in Grant County and lies 801 miles [1,289.1 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Cliff that is located in Custer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Cliff.
    • Oregon
      • Cliff #1
      • This community is historic<3> and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Cliff.
    • Texas
      • Medina County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Medina County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Medina County community of Cliff.
    • Utah
      • Emery County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Utah community of Cliff [Emery County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cliff ...

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.

  • Antelope ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Antelope is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
  • Chilly
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Chilly is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilly
  • Dickey
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Dickey is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickey
  • Era
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Era is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Era
  • Grouse
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Grouse is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grouse
  • Leslie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Leslie is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie
  • Lost River
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Lost River is located in Custer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost River
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 68 people
  • Martin
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Martin is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Cliff once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Cliff and extending to:

  • Challis, which is the Seat of Custer County, lies 51 miles [82.1 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Cliff to Challis, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • Boise, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 127 miles [204.4 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,912 miles [3,077.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 75 days and walking would take 109 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,849 miles [11,022.4 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 7,618 miles [12,260 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,632 miles [9,063.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Cliff 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Cliff) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Cliff, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Cliff 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 Cliff. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8757, Longitude: -113.6781       In this case, the coordinates for Cliff have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 333.599 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 333.711 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 322.577 degrees.