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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Prairie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Prairie 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 Prairie:
    • 43.504894, -115.573981
    • 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 Prairie
  • 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 Elmore County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elmore County
    • Since Prairie is near Boise County and also Ada County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Boise County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ada 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 Prairie

Communities Also Named Prairie ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Prairie.

Within Idaho, the name Prairie is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Wilcox County
      • This Prairie is located in Wilcox County and lies 1,711 miles [2,753.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Prairie that is located in Elmore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilcox County community of Prairie.
    • Colorado
      • Washington County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Washington County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Prairie.
    • Florida
      • Polk County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Prairie [Polk County].
    • Illinois
      • Randolph County
      • This Prairie is located in Randolph County and lies 1,382 miles [2,224.1 km]<1> to the east of the Prairie that is located in Elmore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Prairie.
    • Indiana
      • Posey County
      • This Prairie is located in Posey County and lies 1,487 miles [2,393.1 km]<1> to the east of the Prairie that is located in Elmore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Posey County community of Prairie.
    • Maine
      • Piscataquis County
      • This Prairie is located in Piscataquis County and lies 2,263 miles [3,641.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Prairie that is located in Elmore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Piscataquis County community of Prairie.
    • Michigan
      • Ionia County
      • This Prairie is located in Ionia County and lies 1,527 miles [2,457.5 km]<1> to the east of the Prairie that is located in Elmore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ionia County community of Prairie.
    • Mississippi
      • Monroe County
      • This Prairie is located in Monroe County and lies 1,588 miles [2,555.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Prairie that is located in Elmore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Prairie.
    • Missouri
      • Mississippi County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Prairie [Mississippi County].
    • Nebraska
      • Polk County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Polk County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Prairie.
    • Oklahoma
      • Grant County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Prairie [Grant County].
    • Washington
      • Skagit County
      • This Prairie is located in Skagit County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Prairie that is located in Elmore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Skagit County community of Prairie.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Prairie ...

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.

  • Castle Rocks
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Castle Rocks is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rocks
  • Dixie
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Dixie is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
  • Featherville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Featherville is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Featherville
  • Paradise Hot Springs
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Paradise Hot Springs is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Hot Springs
  • Reclamation Village
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Reclamation Village is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reclamation Village
  • Rocky Bar ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Rocky Bar is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Bar
  • Steamboat Rock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Steamboat Rock is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steamboat Rock
  • Twin Springs
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Twin Springs is located in Boise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs

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

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

  • Mountain Home, which is the Seat of Elmore County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Prairie to Mountain Home, with an average speed<4> 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.
  • Boise, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 32 miles [51.5 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,008 miles [3,231.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 79 days and walking would take 114 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,913 miles [11,125.4 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 7,681 miles [12,361.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,709 miles [9,187.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Prairie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Prairie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Prairie 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.
<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 Prairie 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 Prairie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5049, Longitude: -115.5740       In this case, the coordinates for Prairie have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 335.092 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.431 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 323.766 degrees.