RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Nebraska >> Hall County >> Wood River >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wood River, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wood 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 Wood River:
    • 40.822482, -98.601597
    • 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 Wood 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 Hall County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hall County
    • Since Wood River is near Buffalo County and also Adams County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buffalo County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams 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 Wood River

Communities Also Named Wood River ...

We found two communities that are also named Wood River.

Within Nebraska, the name Wood River is unique.

Beyond Nebraska, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Wood River lies 2,822 miles [4,541.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Wood River that is located in Hall County.
    • Illinois
      • Madison County
      • This Wood River is located in Madison County and lies 471 miles [758 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Wood River that is located in Hall County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Wood River.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wood 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.

How Far From Wood River 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 city such as Wood River to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Grand Island, which is the Seat of Hall County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wood River to Grand Island, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,147 miles [1,845.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 66 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,615 miles [10,645.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,371 miles [11,862.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,279 miles [8,495.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Wood 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 Wood 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 Wood River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8225, Longitude: -98.6016    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.95 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.827 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.40 degrees.