RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Rio, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rio and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Rio:
    • 39.995789, -111.427129
    • 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 Rio
  • 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 Rio ...

We found twelve communities that share the name Rio.

Within Utah, the name Rio is unique.

Beyond Utah, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Martin County
      • This Rio is located in Martin County and lies 1,984 miles [3,192.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Martin County community of Rio.
    • Georgia
      • Spalding County
      • This Rio is located in Spalding County and lies 1,561 miles [2,512.2 km]<1> to the east of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spalding County community of Rio.
    • Illinois
      • Knox County
      • This Rio is located in Knox County and lies 1,103 miles [1,775.1 km]<1> to the east of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Rio.
    • Kansas
      • Ford 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 Kansas community of Rio [Ford County].
    • Kentucky
      • Hart County
      • This Rio is located in Hart County and lies 1,390 miles [2,237 km]<1> to the east of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hart County community of Rio.
    • Louisiana
      • Washington Parish
      • This Rio is located in Washington Parish and lies 1,367 miles [2,200 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington Parish community of Rio.
    • Mississippi
      • Kemper County
      • This Rio is located in Kemper County and lies 1,349 miles [2,171 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kemper County community of Rio.
    • New York
      • Orange 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 New York community of Rio [Orange County].
    • North Dakota
      • Stutsman 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 Dakota community of Rio [Stutsman County].
    • Virginia
      • Albemarle County
      • This Rio is located in Albemarle County and lies 1,763 miles [2,837.3 km]<1> to the east of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albemarle County community of Rio.
    • West Virginia
      • Hampshire County
      • This Rio is located in Hampshire County and lies 1,734 miles [2,790.6 km]<1> to the east of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampshire County community of Rio.
    • Wisconsin
      • Columbia County
      • This Rio is located in Columbia County and lies 1,164 miles [1,873.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rio that is located in Utah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Rio.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rio ...

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.

  • Birdseye
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
    • Birdseye is located in Utah County
    • Former names for Birdseye:
    • Clinton
    • Summit Basin
  • Covered Bridge Canyon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Elk Ridge
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Ridge
    • Elk Ridge is located in Utah County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,427 people
  • Mill Fork ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Fork
    • Mill Fork is located in Utah County
  • Patrick Place
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Patrick Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patrick Place
    • Patrick Place is located in Utah County
  • Sky View
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sky View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky View
    • Sky View is located in Utah County
  • Thistle ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistle
    • Thistle is located in Utah County
  • Three Forks
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
    • Three Forks is located in Utah County
  • Tucker ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tucker have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
    • Tucker is located in Utah County
    • Former name for Tucker:
    • Clear Creek

How Far From Rio 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 Rio to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rio and extending to:

  • Provo, which is the Seat of Utah County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rio to Provo, with an average speed<4> 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 most of a day.
  • Salt Lake City, which is the State Capital of Utah, lies 58 miles [93.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,823 miles [2,933.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 72 days and walking would take 104 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,033 miles [11,318.5 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 7,801 miles [12,554.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,772 miles [9,289.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rio. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Utah County: www.co.utah.ut.us/

The official website for State of Utah: https://www.utah.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 from Point A (ie- Rio) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rio. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9958, Longitude: -111.4271       In this case, the coordinates for Rio 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Rio 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 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 Rio 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 331.485 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 330.901 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.554 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024