Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vinson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vinson and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vinson
- 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 Vinson:
- 45.467347, -119.094448
- 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 Vinson
- 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 Vinson is near Morrow County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Morrow 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 Vinson ...
We found six communities that share the name Vinson.
Within Oregon, the name Vinson is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vinson ...
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
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest) - Bucks Corners
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucks Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Corners
- Bucks Corners is located in Umatilla County
- Butter Creek Junction
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butter Creek Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butter Creek Junction
- Butter Creek Junction is located in Morrow County
- Echo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Echo have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- Echo is located in Umatilla County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 705 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <6>
- Green Meadows
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadows
- Green Meadows is located in Umatilla County
- Lena
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Mission
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast) - Pilot Rock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- 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 <6>
- Pine City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
- Pine City is located in Morrow County
- Sand Hollow
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hollow
- Sand Hollow is located in Morrow County
- Sparks
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Vinson to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Vinson to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vinson and extending to:
- Pendleton, which is the Seat of Umatilla County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<3> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Vinson to Pendleton, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 194 miles [312.2 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,173 miles [3,497.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 85 days and walking would take 124 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,857 miles [11,035.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,624 miles [12,269.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,699 miles [9,171.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vinson. 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> | 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 Vinson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Vinson 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> | 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- Vinson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vinson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.4673, Longitude: -119.0944 In this case, the coordinates for Vinson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Vinson to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.088 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.069 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.821 degrees. |