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 River Ridge:
36.877034, -83.171562
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.
We found seven communities that share the name River Ridge.
Within Kentucky, the name River Ridge is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alabama
Monroe County
This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of River Ridge [Monroe County].
Pike County
This River Ridge is located in Pike County and lies 384 miles [618 km]<2> to the south southwest of the River Ridge that is located in Harlan County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of River Ridge.
Georgia
Floyd County
This River Ridge is located in Floyd County and lies 215 miles [346 km]<2> to the south southwest of the River Ridge that is located in Harlan County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of River Ridge.
Illinois
Kendall 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 Illinois community of River Ridge [Kendall County].
Indiana
Clark County
This River Ridge is located in Clark County and lies 170 miles [273.6 km]<2> to the northwest of the River Ridge that is located in Harlan County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of River Ridge.
Louisiana
Jefferson Parish
This River Ridge is located in Jefferson Parish and lies 626 miles [1,007.4 km]<2> to the southwest of the River Ridge that is located in Harlan County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson Parish community of River Ridge.
Utah
Salt Lake County
This River Ridge is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,563 miles [2,515.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the River Ridge that is located in Harlan County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of River Ridge.
Curious and Interesting Names Near River Ridge ...
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.
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 River Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in River Ridge and extending to:
Harlan, which is the Seat of Harlan County, lies just to the West Southwest.
Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 130 miles [209.2 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from River Ridge to Frankfort, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 362 miles [582.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,244 miles [10,048.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,956 miles [11,194.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,831 miles [7,774.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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 River Ridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- River Ridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in River Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8770, Longitude: -83.1716 In this case, the coordinates for River Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 River Ridge 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>
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.
<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 River Ridge to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.604 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.376 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.967 degrees.