Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Swain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swain and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Swain
- 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 Swain:
- 44.205679, -123.201759
- 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 Swain
- 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 Lane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lane County
- Since Swain is near Linn County and also Benton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Linn County
- eBird sighting report for Benton 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 Swain ...
We found eight communities that share the name Swain.
Within Oregon, the name Swain is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Swain 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 North Carolina community of Swain [Swain County].
- Washington County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Swain [Washington County].
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Swain ...
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.
- Alpine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Eugene
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eugene
- Eugene is located in Lane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 173,236 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eugene <5>
- Fir Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Franklin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Lane County
- Harrisburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrisburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- Harrisburg is located in Linn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,917 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrisburg <5>
- Junction City
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
- Junction City is located in Lane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Junction City <5>
- Low Pass
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Maywood
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - River Road
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Road have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Road
- River Road is located in Lane County
- Riverview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Swain 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 community such as Swain to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Swain and extending to:
- Eugene, which is the Seat of Lane County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Swain to Eugene, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 51 miles [82.1 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,381 miles [3,831.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 136 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,009 miles [11,279.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,772 miles [12,507.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,881 miles [9,464.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Swain. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Lane County: www.lanecounty.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 '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- Swain) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2057, Longitude: -123.2018 In this case, the coordinates for Swain 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 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 Swain 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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Swain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Swain to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.407 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.888 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.528 degrees. |