Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Urban, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Urban and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Urban
- 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 Urban:
- 48.619229, -122.694917
- 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 Urban
- 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 Skagit County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Skagit County
- Since Urban is near San Juan County and also Whatcom County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for San Juan County
- eBird sighting report for Whatcom 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 Urban ...
We found three communities that share the name Urban.
Within Washington, the name Urban is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Urban ...
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.
- Chuckanut
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Chuckanut Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chuckanut Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
- Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
- Doe Bay
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Dolphin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Edison
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Edison Station
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edison Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison Station
- Edison Station is located in Skagit County
- Fairhaven
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Happy Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Happy Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
- Happy Valley is located in Whatcom County
- Howards Corner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howards Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howards Corner
- Howards Corner is located in Skagit County
- Indian Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
- Indian Village is located in Skagit County
- Leary
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Orcas
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orcas
- Orcas is located in San Juan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orcas <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Orcas
- From Urban to Orcas
- Sharpes Corner
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharpes Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpes Corner
- Sharpes Corner is located in Skagit County
How Far From Urban 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 Urban to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Urban and extending to:
- Mount Vernon, which is the Seat of Skagit County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Urban to Mount Vernon, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 109 miles [175.4 km] to the south (S). 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 2,335 miles [3,757.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,712 miles [10,801.9 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 7,473 miles [12,026.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,609 miles [9,026.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Urban. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Skagit County: www.skagitcounty.net/
The official website for State of Washington: https://wa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Urban) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Urban. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.6192, Longitude: -122.6949 |
| <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 Urban 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Urban 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 341.218 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.879 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.919 degrees. |