RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Clark County >> Vancouver >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Vancouver:
    • 45.639304, -122.661906
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Vancouver
  • 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 Clark County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clark County
    • Since Vancouver is near Multnomah County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Multnomah County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Vancouver

Communities Also Named Vancouver ...

We found two communities that are also named Vancouver.

Within Washington, the name Vancouver is unique.

Beyond Washington, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Vancouver lies 250 miles [402.3 km]<1> to the north of the Vancouver that is located in Clark County.
    • Tennessee
      • Loudon County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Vancouver [Loudon County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vancouver ...

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.

  • Blurock Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Blurock Landing is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blurock Landing
  • Champ
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Champ is located in Multnomah County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champ
  • Five Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Five Corners is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
  • Hazel Dell
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Image
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Image is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Image
  • Lake Shore
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lake Shore is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
  • Lakeshore
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeshore is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeshore
  • Minnehaha
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Minnehaha is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnehaha
  • Officers Row
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Officers Row is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Officers Row
  • Salmon Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Salmon Creek is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon Creek
  • University Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • University Park is located in Multnomah County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
  • Walnut Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Walnut Grove is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

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

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

  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 97 miles [156.1 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Vancouver to Olympia, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,344 miles [3,772.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 134 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,907 miles [11,115.7 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 7,669 miles [12,342.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,783 miles [9,306.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vancouver) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Vancouver, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Vancouver to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vancouver. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.6393, Longitude: -122.6619    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.045 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.531 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.105 degrees.