RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oregon >> Douglas County >> Calkins >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Calkins, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Calkins 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 Calkins:
    • 43.221505, -123.408686
    • 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 Calkins
  • 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
    • Since Calkins is near Coos County and also Lane County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coos County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lane 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 Calkins

Communities Also Named Calkins ...

We found three communities that are also named Calkins.

Within Oregon, the name Calkins is unique.

Beyond Oregon, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Shasta County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Calkins [Shasta County].
    • Montana
      • Meagher County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Calkins [Meagher County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Wayne County
      • This Calkins is located in Wayne County and lies 2,426 miles [3,904.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Calkins that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Calkins.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Calkins ...

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.

  • Civil Bend ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Civil Bend is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Civil Bend
  • Edenbower
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Edenbower is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edenbower
  • Green
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Green is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green
  • Lookingglass
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lookingglass is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lookingglass
  • Oak Creek ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Oak Creek is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Creek
  • Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oaks is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
  • Porter Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Porter Creek is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Creek
  • Redbell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Redbell is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbell
  • Riversdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Riversdale is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riversdale
  • Round Prairie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Round Prairie is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Prairie
  • Shady
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Shady is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady

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

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

  • Roseburg, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies just to the East.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 120 miles [193.1 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Calkins to Salem, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,401 miles [3,864 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 137 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,077 miles [11,389.3 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 7,840 miles [12,617.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,944 miles [9,565.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Calkins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Calkins) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Calkins 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 Calkins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2215, Longitude: -123.4087       In this case, the coordinates for Calkins have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.514 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.968 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.70 degrees.