Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rufus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rufus and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rufus
- 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 Rufus:
- 45.691517, -120.742650
- 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 Rufus
- 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 Sherman County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Sherman County
- Since Rufus is near Klickitat County and also Wasco County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Klickitat 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 Rufus ...
We found eight communities that share the name Rufus.
Within Oregon, the name Rufus is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Dent County
- Although located in Dent County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dent County community of Rufus.
- North Carolina
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rufus ...
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.
- Centerville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Klickitat County (WA)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Centerville <3>
- Early ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Emigrant Springs ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emigrant Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emigrant Springs
- Emigrant Springs is located in Sherman County
- Locust Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
- Locust Grove is located in Sherman County
- Maryhill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryhill
- Maryhill is located in Klickitat County (WA)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maryhill <3>
- Moody
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Sinks ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinks
- Sinks is located in Sherman County
- Thornberry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thornberry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
- Thornberry is located in Sherman County
How Far From Rufus 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 city such as Rufus to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rufus and extending to:
- Moro, which is the Seat of Sherman County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Rufus to Moro, 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 122 miles [196.3 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,251 miles [3,622.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 88 days and walking would take 128 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,872 miles [11,059.4 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 7,637 miles [12,290.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,730 miles [9,221.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rufus. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Sherman County: www.sherman-county.com/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Rufus 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rufus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rufus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.6915, Longitude: -120.7427 In this case, the coordinates for Rufus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Rufus 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 339.457 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.68 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.86 degrees. |