RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Idaho >> Shoshone County >> Elk Creek >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Elk Creek:
    • 47.533814, -116.057943
    • 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 Elk Creek
  • 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 Shoshone County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shoshone County
    • Since Elk Creek is near Kootenai County and also Mineral County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kootenai County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mineral 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 Elk Creek

Communities Also Named Elk Creek ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Elk Creek.

Within Idaho, the name Elk Creek is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Glenn County
      • This Elk Creek is located in Glenn County and lies 635 miles [1,021.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Elk Creek that is located in Shoshone County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Glenn County community of Elk Creek.
    • Colorado
      • Jefferson 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 Colorado community of Elk Creek [Jefferson County].
    • Iowa
      • Worth 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 Iowa community of Elk Creek [Worth County].
    • Kansas
      • Osage County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Osage County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Osage County community of Elk Creek.
      • Republic 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 Kansas community of Elk Creek [Republic County].
    • Kentucky
      • Spencer County
      • This Elk Creek is located in Spencer County and lies 1,671 miles [2,689.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Elk Creek that is located in Shoshone County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spencer County community of Elk Creek.
    • Missouri
      • Texas County
      • This Elk Creek is located in Texas County and lies 1,411 miles [2,270.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Elk Creek that is located in Shoshone County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Texas County community of Elk Creek.
    • Nebraska
      • Johnson County
      • This Elk Creek is located in Johnson County and lies 1,106 miles [1,779.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Elk Creek that is located in Shoshone County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Elk Creek.
    • New York
      • Otsego County
      • This Elk Creek is located in Otsego County and lies 2,015 miles [3,242.8 km]<1> to the east of the Elk Creek that is located in Shoshone County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otsego County community of Elk Creek.
    • North Carolina
      • Alleghany 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 North Carolina community of Elk Creek [Alleghany County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Erie 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 Pennsylvania community of Elk Creek [Erie County].
    • South Dakota
      • Lawrence 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 South Dakota community of Elk Creek [Lawrence County].
    • Virginia
      • Grayson County
      • This Elk Creek is located in Grayson County and lies 1,915 miles [3,081.9 km]<1> to the east of the Elk Creek that is located in Shoshone County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grayson County community of Elk Creek.
    • Washington
      • Pacific County
      • This Elk Creek is located in Pacific County and lies 352 miles [566.5 km]<1> to the west of the Elk Creek that is located in Shoshone County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pacific County community of Elk Creek.
    • Wisconsin
      • Trempealeau County
      • This Elk Creek is located in Trempealeau County and lies 1,197 miles [1,926.4 km]<1> to the east of the Elk Creek that is located in Shoshone County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Trempealeau County community of Elk Creek.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elk Creek ...

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.

  • Blackcloud
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Blackcloud is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackcloud
  • Bunn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Bunn is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunn
  • Carbon Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Carbon Center is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Center
  • Delta
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Delta is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
  • Elizabeth Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Elizabeth Park is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth Park
  • Kellogg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Nelson ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Nelson is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
  • Page
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Page is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page
  • Pine Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pine Creek is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
  • Smelter Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Smelter Heights is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smelter Heights
  • Smelterville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Woodland Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodland Park is located in Shoshone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

How Far From Elk Creek 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 community such as Elk Creek to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Wallace, which is the Seat of Shoshone County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Boise, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Elk Creek to Boise, with an average speed<5>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 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,028 miles [3,263.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 4 days, a buggy would take 80 days and walking would take 116 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,670 miles [10,734.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,437 miles [11,968.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,499 miles [8,849.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elk Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Elk Creek 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 Elk Creek, 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>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 Elk Creek 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 Elk Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.5338, Longitude: -116.0579       In this case, the coordinates for Elk Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 335.729 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.467 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 323.698 degrees.