RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oregon >> Multnomah County >> Elk Rock >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elk Rock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elk Rock 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 Elk Rock:
    • 45.439008, -122.657594
    • 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 Elk 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 Multnomah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Multnomah County
    • Since Elk Rock is near Clackamas County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clackamas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Elk Rock

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elk 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.

  • Bell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Bell is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
  • Christie ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Christie is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christie
  • Errol
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Errol is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errol
  • Errol Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Errol Heights is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errol Heights
  • Fair Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Golf Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Golf Junction is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golf Junction
  • Harmony
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Harmony is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Harmony Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Harmony Point is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Point
  • Jennings Lodge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jennings Lodge is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings Lodge
  • Johns Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Johns Landing is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johns Landing
  • Kellogg Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Kellogg Park is located in Multnomah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg Park
  • Knight
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Knight is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knight
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Ladd
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Ladd is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladd
    • Lake Grove ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lake Grove is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Grove
    • Luther
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Luther is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
    • Marylhurst
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Oak Grove
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Oatfield
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Oatfield is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oatfield
    • Riverwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Riverwood is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
    • Sentinel Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sentinel Hill is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel Hill

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Elk Rock and extending to:

  • Portland, which is the Seat of Multnomah County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Elk Rock to Salem, 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.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,345 miles [3,773.9 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 92 days and walking would take 134 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,920 miles [11,136.7 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 7,682 miles [12,363 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,794 miles [9,324.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 from Point A (ie- Elk Rock) 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 Elk Rock 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 Elk Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.4390, Longitude: -122.6576       In this case, the coordinates for Elk Rock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.03 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.503 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.114 degrees.