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The Grouse Ridge Lookout Solar Model is a scale model of our Solar System, situated in Grouse Ridge, Emigrant Gap, Cisco Grove, Big Bend, and Baxter California, USA
The model is now (mostly) complete. Below you will find links to related sites. Updates and status info are on the Solar Model Blog. If you are an avid Geocacher, you will want to skip these details and go directly to http://www.geocaching.com, and search away. Hint: the zip code for Emigrant Gap is 95715.
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The scale of this model is 1 inch equals 5000 miles. |
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Sol, (our sun,) is represented by the Grouse Ridge Lookout. At 14.4 feet across it's exactly the right size for the scale, and it can be seen from a long way off - this is very important for this project. |
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Mercury is only 600 feet away. In fact, all of the inner planets are within about a mile and a half. |
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After Jupiter, the distances start to take rather large leaps. The furthest, Pluto, is almost 12 miles away! |
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All planetary positions have a clear view of Sol! (at least during nice weather.) |
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All planets have their coordinates posted both here and at the Geocaching site. (You will need a GPS to cruise the model.) |
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You may download all planet waypoints to EasyGPS for Groundspeak here |
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| Sol |
N39
23.178 |
The Sun: The Grouse Ridge Lookout building itself. |
| Mercury | N39 23.267 W120 36.741 |
These are the inner planets, and are all on or near the peak of Grouse Ridge. Earth is in a relatively safe spot, but the rest of the inner planets are rather near some pretty nasty cliffs (not recommended for small children.) All of these caches have fantastic views, bring your camera! |
| Venus | N39 23.356 W120 36.791 |
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| Earth / Moon | N39 23.155 W120 36.434 |
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| Mars | N39 22.927 W120 37.143 |
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| Jupiter | N39 22.223 W120 37.961 |
First of the outer planets. |
| Saturn | Still looking for a location at radius 2.8 miles. | |
| Uranus | N39 18.945 W120 33.535 |
Short but semi-difficult hike; very rocky; cliffs. |
| Neptune | N39 17.573 W120 30.438 |
This one's a good day-hike. Steep, 2.5 miles, and Very Rocky - but it's well worth it! |
| Pluto | N39 15.135 W120 44.923 |
This is by far the most dramatic in scale. Don't miss it. |
The latest updates can be found in the Solar Model Blog.
You can read the descriptions and find out the scale dimensions and orbital distances, and you'll certainly have all the data. However, you really need to pick up a planet in your hand, holding it up toward the GRL, and see how far it is to Sol. Until you do that, it's just numbers on paper. When you actually see it, well, just try it and find out!
If you visit only one planet, make it Earth! Earth has its moon tethered to it, and the dimensions are a bit of a surprise to most people. For a really good time, try this: Have someone hold up the moon, and you hold Earth next to your head. If you move around a bit, you will find that you can "eclipse" the Lookout, just as the real moon does the real sun. It's a blast! Try it! :-)
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