Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cochrane, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cochrane and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cochrane
- 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 Cochrane:
- 44.884563, -123.237323
- 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 Cochrane
- 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 Cochrane is near Marion County and also Benton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marion County
- eBird sighting report for Benton 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 Cochrane ...
We found six communities that share the name Cochrane.
Within Oregon, the name Cochrane is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, four are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cochrane ...
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.
- Bowersville ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowersville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowersville
- Bowersville is located in Polk County
- Ellendale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Ellendale is located in Polk County
- Fern Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fern Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 west) - Fir Villa
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Hopville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Independence
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Independence is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,871 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Independence <3>
- Lewisville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewisville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
- Lewisville is located in Polk County
- Liberty
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Mitchell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Oak Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Rosedale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
How Far From Cochrane to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Cochrane 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<4> community of Cochrane once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Cochrane and extending to:
- Dallas, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Cochrane to Salem, with an average speed<5> 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.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,377 miles [3,825.4 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 93 days and walking would take 135 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,965 miles [11,209.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,727 miles [12,435.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,842 miles [9,401.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.or.us/
The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Cochrane) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cochrane. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8846, Longitude: -123.2373 In this case, the coordinates for Cochrane have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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 Cochrane, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Cochrane to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.48 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.004 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.519 degrees. |