Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ruckles, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ruckles and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ruckles
- 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 Ruckles:
- 43.062339, -123.339234
- 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 Ruckles
- 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- Since Ruckles is near Josephine County and also Coos County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Josephine County
- eBird sighting report for Coos 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ruckles ...
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.
- Civil Bend ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Civil Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Civil Bend
- Civil Bend is located in Douglas County
- Dole
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Green
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Oaks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Riddle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddle
- Riddle is located in Douglas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,216 people
- Former names for Riddle:
- Riddles
- Riddlesburg
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riddle <2>
- Round Prairie
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Prairie
- Round Prairie is located in Douglas County
- Shady
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Surprise Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Surprise Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surprise Valley
- Surprise Valley is located in Douglas County
- Weaver
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
How Far From Ruckles 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 Ruckles to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Ruckles and extending to:
- Roseburg, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Ruckles to Roseburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 130 miles [209.2 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,400 miles [3,862.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 137 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,086 miles [11,403.8 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 7,849 miles [12,631.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,952 miles [9,578.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ruckles. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Douglas County: www.co.douglas.or.us/
The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ruckles) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ruckles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0623, Longitude: -123.3392 In this case, the coordinates for Ruckles have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Ruckles 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 341.444 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.879 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.661 degrees. |