Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in La Grande, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Grande and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for La Grande
- 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 La Grande:
- 45.324576, -118.088008
- 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 La Grande
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since La Grande is near Umatilla County and also Baker County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Umatilla County
- eBird sighting report for Baker 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 La Grande ...
We found one communities that share the name La Grande.
Within Oregon, the name La Grande is unique.
Beyond Oregon, there is another community also named La Grande in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near La Grande ...
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.
- Cove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove
- Cove is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 652 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cove <2>
- Crooks
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast) - Hot Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Island City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island City
- Island City is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,024 people
- Lone Tree
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Summerville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerville
- Summerville is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summerville <2>
- Union
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Union is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,207 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union <2>
- Union Junction
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Junction
- Union Junction is located in Union County
How Far From La Grande 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 La Grande to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in La Grande and extending to:
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 242 miles [389.5 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from La Grande to Salem, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,125 miles [3,419.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 83 days and walking would take 121 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,848 miles [11,020.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,615 miles [12,255.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,679 miles [9,139.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for La Grande: www.ci.la-grande.or.us/
The official website for Union County: www.union-county.org/
The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- La Grande) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in La Grande. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.3246, Longitude: -118.0880 |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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. |
| <5> | 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 La Grande to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.256 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.089 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.193 degrees. |