Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Doran, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Doran and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Doran
- 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 Doran:
- 48.678446, -122.195713
- 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 Doran
- 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 Whatcom County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Whatcom County
- Since Doran is near Skagit County and also San Juan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Skagit County
- eBird sighting report for San Juan 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 Doran ...
We found five communities that share the name Doran.
Within Washington, the name Doran is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Ontario
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Doran ...
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.
- Acme
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Acme is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Acme <3>
- Clipper
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper
- Clipper is located in Whatcom County
- Cokedale ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Equality ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Geneva
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Mirror Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mirror Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mirror Lake
- Mirror Lake is located in Whatcom County
- Prairie
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Silver Beach
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
- Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
- Standard Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Standard Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard Crossing
- Standard Crossing is located in Whatcom County
- Sudden Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sudden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudden Valley
- Sudden Valley is located in Whatcom County
- Sunnyside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Welcome
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
How Far From Doran 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 Doran to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Doran and extending to:
- Bellingham, which is the Seat of Whatcom County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Doran to Bellingham, 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.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 117 miles [188.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 2,312 miles [3,720.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,701 miles [10,784.2 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 7,462 miles [12,008.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,593 miles [9,001.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Doran. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Whatcom County: www.co.whatcom.wa.us/
The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.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 Doran 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Doran) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Doran. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.6784, Longitude: -122.1957 In this case, the coordinates for Doran 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 Doran 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 340.807 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.407 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.583 degrees. |