Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bluffside, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bluffside and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bluffside
- 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 Bluffside:
- 38.483941, -90.154833
- 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 Bluffside
- 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 Saint Clair County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
- Since Bluffside is near Monroe County and also Saint Louis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Monroe County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Louis 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 Bluffside ...
We found one communities that share the name Bluffside.
Within Illinois, the name Bluffside is unique.
Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named Bluffside in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bluffside ...
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.
- Bixby
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Cherokee Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Park
- Cherokee Park is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Cliff Cave
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cliff Cave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff Cave
- Cliff Cave is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Crest Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crest Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crest Hill
- Crest Hill is located in Saint Clair County
- Dutch Hollow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dutch Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Hollow
- Dutch Hollow is located in Saint Clair County
- Dutchtown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Falling Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falling Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Spring
- Falling Spring is located in Saint Clair County
- Fountain Gap
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fountain Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Gap
- Fountain Gap is located in Monroe County
- Golden Gardens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Gardens
- Golden Gardens is located in Saint Clair County
- Ivory
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Maplewood Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maplewood Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Park
- Maplewood Park is located in Saint Clair County
- Mount Pleasant
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Roachtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Royal Heights
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Royal Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Heights
- Royal Heights is located in Saint Clair County
- Signal Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Signal Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Signal Hill
- Signal Hill is located in Saint Clair County
- Vulcan
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Roachtown
How Far From Bluffside 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 Bluffside to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Bluffside and extending to:
- Belleville, which is the Seat of Saint Clair County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bluffside to Belleville, with an average speed<4> 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.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 93 miles [149.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 706 miles [1,136.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,442 miles [10,367.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,177 miles [11,550.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,056 miles [8,136.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bluffside. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Saint Clair County: www.co.st-clair.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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 Bluffside 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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Bluffside) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bluffside. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4839, Longitude: -90.1548 In this case, the coordinates for Bluffside have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bluffside to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.038 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.695 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.661 degrees. |