Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Black Rock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Black Rock and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Black Rock
- 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 Black Rock:
- 44.870950, -123.496218
- 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 Black Rock
- 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Since Black Rock is near Benton County and also Lincoln County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Benton County
- eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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 Black Rock ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Black Rock.
Within Oregon, the name Black Rock is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, eleven are located in the United States and six are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Crenshaw County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Black Rock [Crenshaw County].
- Arkansas
- Lawrence County
- This Black Rock is located in Lawrence County and lies 1,791 miles [2,882.3 km]<2> to the east of the Black Rock that is located in Polk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Black Rock.
- Connecticut
- Fairfield County
- This Black Rock is located in Fairfield County and lies 2,510 miles [4,039.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Black Rock that is located in Polk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfield County community of Black Rock.
- Indiana
- Warren County
- This Black Rock is located in Warren County and lies 1,859 miles [2,991.8 km]<2> to the east of the Black Rock that is located in Polk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Black Rock.
- Kentucky
- Grayson County
- This Black Rock is located in Grayson County and lies 1,978 miles [3,183.3 km]<2> to the east of the Black Rock that is located in Polk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grayson County community of Black Rock.
- Maryland
- Baltimore County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maryland community of Black Rock [Baltimore County].
- Massachusetts
- Norfolk County
- This Black Rock is located in Norfolk County and lies 2,595 miles [4,176.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Black Rock that is located in Polk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Norfolk County community of Black Rock.
- New Brunswick
- This Black Rock lies 2,719 miles [4,375.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Black Rock that is located in Polk County.
- New Mexico
- McKinley County
- This Black Rock is located in McKinley County and lies 1,027 miles [1,652.8 km]<2> to the southeast of the Black Rock that is located in Polk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McKinley County community of Black Rock.
- New York
- Cayuga County
- This Black Rock is located in Cayuga County and lies 2,306 miles [3,711.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Black Rock that is located in Polk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cayuga County community of Black Rock.
- Erie County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Black Rock [Erie County].
- Nova Scotia
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nova Scotia community of Black Rock.
- Utah
- Millard County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Utah community of Black Rock [Millard County].
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Black Rock ...
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.
- Ellendale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Ellendale is located in Polk County
- Falls City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
- Falls City is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,070 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falls City <4>
- Fern Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fern Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Corner
- Fern Corner is located in Polk County
- Ferns ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Lewisville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewisville have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
- Lewisville is located in Polk County
- Link
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Maple Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Maple Grove is located in Polk County
- Pedee
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Tarter
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Black Rock 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 Black Rock to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Black Rock and extending to:
- Dallas, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Black Rock to Dallas, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 23 miles [37 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,390 miles [3,846.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 136 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,970 miles [11,217.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,732 miles [12,443.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,849 miles [9,413.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Black Rock. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.or.us/
The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.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 Black Rock 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Black Rock) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Black Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8710, Longitude: -123.4962 In this case, the coordinates for Black Rock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Black Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Black Rock to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.695 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.256 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.688 degrees. |