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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dorena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dorena 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 Dorena:
    • 43.720978, -122.865089
    • 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 Dorena
  • 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 Dorena is near Douglas County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas 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 Dorena

Communities Also Named Dorena ...

We found three communities that are also named Dorena.

Within Oregon, the name Dorena is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Flagler 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 Florida community of Dorena [Flagler County].
    • Kentucky
      • Pulaski County
      • This Dorena is located in Pulaski County and lies 2,030 miles [3,267 km]<2> to the east of the Dorena that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Dorena.
    • Missouri
      • Mississippi County
      • This Dorena is located in Mississippi County and lies 1,827 miles [2,940.3 km]<2> to the east of the Dorena that is located in Lane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi County community of Dorena.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dorena ...

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.

  • Amos ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Amos is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amos
  • Cloverdale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Cloverdale is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Cottage Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Divide ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Gap
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Gap is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gap
  • London
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • London is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
  • London Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • London Springs is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London Springs
  • Minnow
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Minnow is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnow
  • Wildwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Wildwood is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood

How Far From Dorena 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 Dorena 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 Dorena once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Dorena and extending to:

  • Eugene, which is the Seat of Lane County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Dorena to Eugene, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 84 miles [135.2 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,369 miles [3,812.5 km] to the east (E). Driving 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 7,035 miles [11,321.7 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 7,798 miles [12,549.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,901 miles [9,496.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>'

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 Dorena 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' (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- Dorena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Dorena, 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 Dorena 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 Dorena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7210, Longitude: -122.8651    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.094 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.496 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.332 degrees.