RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Ripley County >> Riga >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Riga, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Riga 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 Riga:
    • 36.551448, -90.649560
    • 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 Riga
  • 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 Ripley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ripley County
    • Since Riga is near Butler County and also Clay County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Butler County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay 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 Riga

Communities Also Named Riga ...

We found four communities that are also named Riga.

Within Missouri, the name Riga is unique.

Beyond Missouri, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Trego County
      • This Riga is located in Trego County and lies 518 miles [833.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Riga that is located in Ripley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Trego County community of Riga.
    • Michigan
      • Lenawee County
      • This Riga is located in Lenawee County and lies 514 miles [827.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Riga that is located in Ripley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lenawee County community of Riga.
    • New York
      • Monroe County
      • This Riga is located in Monroe County and lies 811 miles [1,305.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Riga that is located in Ripley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Riga.
    • North Dakota
      • McHenry County
      • This Riga is located in McHenry County and lies 957 miles [1,540.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Riga that is located in Ripley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McHenry County community of Riga.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Riga ...

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.

  • Corning
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Current View
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Current View is located in Clay County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Current View
  • Fairdealing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Fairdealing is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdealing
  • Flatwoods
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Flatwoods is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
  • Glenn
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenn is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn
  • Hill Top
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hill Top is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Top
  • Kingbee ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Kingbee is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingbee
  • Martinsburg ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Martinsburg is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsburg
  • Parks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Parks is located in Butler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parks
  • Success
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Success is located in Clay County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
  • Torch
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Torch is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Torch
  • Twin Oaks
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Twin Oaks is located in Clay County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Riga once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Riga and extending to:

  • Doniphan, which is the Seat of Ripley County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Riga to Doniphan, 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.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 162 miles [260.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 760 miles [1,223.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,557 miles [10,552.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,287 miles [11,727.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,164 miles [8,310.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (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- Riga) 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>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 Riga, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Riga 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 Riga. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5514, Longitude: -90.6496       In this case, the coordinates for Riga have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.263 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.693 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.307 degrees.