Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in The Rocks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Rocks and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for The Rocks
- 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 The Rocks:
- 37.674768, -88.093643
- 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 The Rocks
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since The Rocks is near Gallatin County and also Hardin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gallatin County
- eBird sighting report for Hardin 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 The Rocks ...
We found three communities that share the name The Rocks.
Within Kentucky, the name The Rocks is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Maryland
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near The Rocks ...
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.
- Arnold
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Caseyville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caseyville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caseyville
- Caseyville is located in Union County
- Hazel
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Junction
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction
- Junction is located in Gallatin County (IL)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Junction <3>
- Lamb
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Oak Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Rock Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Rock Creek is located in Hardin County (IL)
- Saline Landing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline Landing
- Saline Landing is located in Hardin County (IL)
- Saline Rocks Ferry
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saline Rocks Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline Rocks Ferry
- Saline Rocks Ferry is located in Gallatin County (IL)
- Saline Tip Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saline Tip Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline Tip Ferry
- Saline Tip Ferry is located in Hardin County (IL)
- Sparks Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparks Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks Hill
- Sparks Hill is located in Hardin County (IL)
- Spring Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Spring Grove is located in Union County
- Uniontown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
How Far From The Rocks 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 The Rocks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in The Rocks and extending to:
- Morganfield, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from The Rocks to Morganfield, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 179 miles [288.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 604 miles [972 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,403 miles [10,304.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,130 miles [11,474.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,007 miles [8,058 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for The Rocks. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.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 The Rocks 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- The Rocks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in The Rocks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6748, Longitude: -88.0936 In this case, the coordinates for The Rocks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 The Rocks 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 314.676 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.016 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.903 degrees. |