Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fossil, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fossil and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fossil
- 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 Fossil:
- 44.999887, -120.21373
- 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 Fossil
- 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 Wheeler County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wheeler County
- Since Fossil is near Gilliam County and also Wasco County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gilliam County
- eBird sighting report for Wasco 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 Fossil ...
We found three communities that share the name Fossil.
Within Oregon, the name Fossil is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Tennessee
- Wyoming
- Lincoln County
- This Fossil is located in Lincoln County and lies 523 miles [841.7 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Fossil that is located in Wheeler County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Fossil.
- Uinta 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 Wyoming community of Fossil [Uinta County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fossil ...
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.
- Edwards
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Horse Heaven ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Heaven
- Horse Heaven is located in Jefferson County
- Lonerock
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonerock
- Lonerock is located in Gilliam County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
- Lost Valley ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lost Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Valley
- Lost Valley is located in Wheeler County
- Mayville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
- Mayville is located in Gilliam County
- Service Creek
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Service Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Service Creek
- Service Creek is located in Wheeler County
- Spray
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spray
- Spray is located in Wheeler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spray <4>
- Thirtymile
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thirtymile have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thirtymile
- Thirtymile is located in Gilliam County
- Trail Fork ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trail Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail Fork
- Trail Fork is located in Gilliam County
How Far From Fossil 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 city such as Fossil to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fossil and extending to:
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 137 miles [220.5 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Fossil to Salem, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,229 miles [3,587.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 87 days and walking would take 127 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,907 miles [11,115.7 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 7,673 miles [12,348.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,756 miles [9,263.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Fossil: www.cityoffossil.org/
The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/
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 Fossil 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fossil) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fossil. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.9999, Longitude: -120.2137 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Fossil 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 338.979 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.082 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.567 degrees. |