Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McKay, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McKay and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McKay
- 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 McKay:
- 45.499574, -118.615805
- 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 McKay
- 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 Umatilla County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Umatilla County
- Since McKay is near Union County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Union 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 McKay ...
We found nine communities that share the name McKay.
Within Oregon, the name McKay is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Calaveras County
- This McKay is located in Calaveras County and lies 508 miles [817.5 km]<1> to the south of the McKay that is located in Umatilla County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calaveras County community of McKay.
- San Luis Obispo County
- This McKay is located in San Luis Obispo County and lies 679 miles [1,092.7 km] to the south of the McKay that is located in Umatilla County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Luis Obispo County community of McKay.
- Michigan
- Clare County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of McKay [Clare County].
- Mecosta County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of McKay [Mecosta County].
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Columbia County
- This McKay is located in Columbia County and lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the McKay that is located in Umatilla County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of McKay.
- King County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of McKay [King County].
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near McKay ...
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.
- Apex
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north) - Green Meadows
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadows
- Green Meadows is located in Umatilla County
- Havana
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north) - Helix
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Helix have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helix
- Helix is located in Umatilla County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helix <4>
- Mission
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Pilot Rock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Rock
- Pilot Rock is located in Umatilla County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,507 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pilot Rock <4>
- Sparks
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Thorn Hollow
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thorn Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorn Hollow
- Thorn Hollow is located in Umatilla County
How Far From McKay 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 McKay to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McKay and extending to:
- Pendleton, which is the Seat of Umatilla County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from McKay to Pendleton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 218 miles [350.8 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,150 miles [3,460.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 84 days and walking would take 123 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,847 miles [11,019.2 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 7,613 miles [12,251.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,684 miles [9,147.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for McKay. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Umatilla County: www.co.umatilla.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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McKay) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McKay. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.4996, Longitude: -118.6158 In this case, the coordinates for McKay have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 McKay 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. |
| <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 McKay 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 337.698 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.616 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.514 degrees. |