RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kentucky >> Floyd County >> Blue River >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Blue River, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue River 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 Blue River:
    • 37.616315, -82.843483
    • 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 Blue River
  • 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 Floyd County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Floyd County
    • Since Blue River is near Magoffin County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Magoffin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 Blue River

Communities Also Named Blue River ...

We found five communities that are also named Blue River.

Within Kentucky, the name Blue River is unique.

Beyond Kentucky, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Blue River lies 2,015 miles [3,242.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Blue River that is located in Floyd County.
    • Colorado
      • Summit County
      • This Blue River is located in Summit County and lies 1,255 miles [2,019.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Blue River that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Summit County community of Blue River.
    • Indiana
      • Washington County
      • This Blue River is located in Washington County and lies 179 miles [288.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Blue River that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Blue River.
    • Oregon
      • Lane County
      • This Blue River is located in Lane County and lies 2,089 miles [3,361.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Blue River that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lane County community of Blue River.
    • Wisconsin
      • Grant County
      • This Blue River is located in Grant County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Blue River that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Blue River.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue River ...

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.

  • Allen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Allen is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
    • Allen has also been known as:
    • Beaver Creek Junction
    • Beaver Creek
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <2>
  • Bonanza
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Bonanza is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
  • Bull Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bull Creek is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Creek
  • Cliff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cliff is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff
  • David
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • David is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for David
  • Eastern
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Eastern is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastern
  • Emma
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Emma is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emma
  • Fredville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Fredville is located in Magoffin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredville
  • Gapville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Gapville is located in Magoffin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gapville
  • Gunlock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Gunlock is located in Magoffin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunlock
  • Gypsy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Hippo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Hippo is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hippo
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Martin
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Maytown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Midas
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Midas is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midas
    • Pyramid
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Pyramid is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pyramid
    • Waldo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Waldo is located in Magoffin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldo
    • Watergap
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)

How Far From Blue River to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Blue River to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Prestonsburg, which is the Seat of Floyd County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 117 miles [188.3 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Blue River to Frankfort, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 326 miles [524.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,196 miles [9,971.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,910 miles [11,120.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,786 miles [7,702.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Blue River) 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 Blue River 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 Blue River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6163, Longitude: -82.8435       In this case, the coordinates for Blue River have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.406 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.256 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.611 degrees.