RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oregon >> Lane County >> Blue River >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Blue River, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue 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 Blue River:
    • 44.154392, -122.339213
    • 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 Blue 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 Lane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lane County
    • Since Blue River is near Linn County and also Deschutes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Linn County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Deschutes 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 Blue River

Communities Also Named Blue River ...

We found five communities that are also named Blue River.

Within Oregon, the name Blue River is unique.

Beyond Oregon, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Blue River lies 566 miles [910.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Blue River that is located in Lane County.
    • Colorado
      • Summit County
      • This Blue River is located in Summit County and lies 897 miles [1,443.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Blue River that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Summit County community of Blue River.
    • Indiana
      • Washington County
      • This Blue River is located in Washington County and lies 1,910 miles [3,073.8 km]<1> to the east of the Blue River that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Blue River.
    • Kentucky
      • Floyd County
      • This Blue River is located in Floyd County and lies 2,089 miles [3,361.9 km]<1> to the east of the Blue River that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Blue River.
    • Wisconsin
      • Grant County
      • This Blue River is located in Grant County and lies 1,578 miles [2,539.5 km]<1> to the east of the Blue River that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Blue River.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue 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.

  • Cedar Flat
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Flat is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Flat
  • Deerhorn
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Deerhorn is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerhorn
  • Dollar
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Dollar is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dollar
  • Mabel
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Mitchell
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Mitchell is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
  • Nimrod
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Nimrod is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
  • Rainbow
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Rainbow is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
  • Sweet Home
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Upper Soda
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Upper Soda is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Soda

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

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

  • Eugene, which is the Seat of Lane County, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Blue River to Eugene, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 63 miles [101.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,339 miles [3,764.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,998 miles [11,262.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,762 miles [12,491.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,861 miles [9,432.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Blue 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 Blue 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 Blue River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1544, Longitude: -122.3392    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.684 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.036 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.975 degrees.