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Ambiguous Place Names In The USA And Canada

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Introduction

Acadia

• The historical region of Acadia in eastern Canada.

• Acadia National Park, Maine.

Alabama

• The state of Alabama.

• The Alabama River.

Algonquin

Arkansas

• The state of Arkansas.

• The Arkansas River.

Augusta

• Augusta, Georgia, famous for the nearby golf course which hosts the annual US Masters.

• Augusta, Maine, the state capital.

Baja California is also sometimes known as Lower California.

Big Bend

• Big Bend National Park, Texas.

• One of the shuttle bus stops in Zion National Park, Utah.

Buffalo

• Buffalo, New York State - a large city south of Niagara Falls.

• Buffalo, Wyoming - a medium sized town south of Sheridan, near the Big Horn Mountains.

• Technically, a buffalo (the animal) should really be called a bison.

CA

• CA is the official abbreviation for the American state of California and this is its normal meaning.

• In Internet domain names, ".CA" (or more properly ".ca") is used to mean the country of Canada. This meaning is rare outside of the Internet but it is sometimes used.

California

Canada and La Cañada Flintridge

Cañada (with a tilde) is a Spanish word. However, it is not listed in my Spanish-English dictionary. The name of the country of Canada, without a tilde, is not Spanish - it comes from the Iroquioan Indian word "kanata" meaning "village" or "community".

Wakefield Carter of Los Angeles kindly sent me the following information:

The official full name of the town is La Cañada Flintridge. It is also the home of Descanso Gardens (www.descanso.com).

The word "Cañada" in La Cañada Flintridge means a "dell". No, it's not a computer, but rather a small isolated valley where the city is located.

Canadian River

Carlsbad

• Carlsbad, California. On the coast between San Diego and Los Angeles.

• Carlsbad, New Mexico. Southeastern New Mexico, close to the border with Texas. Carlsbad Caverns National Park is about 25 miles southwest of the town.

• Carl's Jr is a fast food restaurant chain.

Charleston

• Charleston, South Carolina.

• Charleston, West Virginia.

Chimney Rock

• Chimney Rock National Historic Site, Nebraska - the famous landmark on the Oregon Trail.

• Chimney Rock Park, North Carolina - a privately owned attraction.

City Of Rocks

• City of Rocks National Preserve, southern Idaho.

• City Of Rocks State Park, New Mexico.

Colorado

• The state of Colorado.

• The Colorado Desert which is in California.

• Colorado National Monument, Colorado. Near Grand Junction.

• The Colorado Plateau, an arid area covering northeastern and northern Arizona, the southern two thirds of western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, central Utah, southern Utah, and the southern two thirds of eastern Utah.

• The Colorado River which rises in the Rocky Mountains and which flows through the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

• The Colorado River which flows in a generally southeasterly direction through Texas.

• British Columbia.

• Columbia, Maryland.

• Columbia, Missouri.

• Columbia, South Carolina.

• Columbia, Tennessee.

• Columbia Bay, Alaska.

• The Columbia River rises in the Canadian Rockies and for a significant part of its length forms the border between Washington State and Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest.

• The District Of Columbia contains the city of Washington, the capital of the USA, in the east.

Concord

• Concord, Massachusetts.

• Concord, New Hampshire.

• Concord, California, in the San Francisco Bay area.

Connecticut

• The state of Connecticut.

• The Connecticut River.

Dallas and Dulles

• Dallas is a city in Texas.

• The Dallas Divide is a mountain pass in southwestern Colorado, on the San Juan Skyway.

• Dulles is one of the airports serving the city of Washington DC.

Delaware

• The state of Delaware.

• Delaware Bay.

• Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Not in the state of Delaware but part of the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Its name comes from the Delaware River.

• The Delaware River in the eastern USA.

• There are other Delaware Rivers in eastern Kansas and in western Texas.

Dixie

• A colloquial name for the Confederate states. There are various theories as to the derivation of the name.

• The southwestern part of Utah, around the St George area. This region is often called "Utah's Dixie" to avoid confusion.

El Camino Real (The Royal Road, or The King's Highway)

• El Camino Real in California.

• El Camino Real in Colorado and New Mexico.

El Capitan

• El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas.

• El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.

Eureka and Yreka, California

• Eureka is on US 101, on the coast, south of Redwood National Park.

• Yreka is on I-5, north of Redding and Mount Shasta, not far south of the Oregon state line.

Fort Laramie and Laramie, Wyoming

• Fort Laramie is a very small town on US26 not far from Torrington. Fort Laramie National Historic Site is nearby.

• Laramie is by far the larger town. It lies on I-80 to the west of Cheyenne.

Georgia

• The US state of Georgia.

• The country of Georgia in eastern Europe (or, if you prefer, in western Asia).

• Georgian Bay, an arm of Lake Huron.

• The Strait Of Georgia, between the mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

• The islands of South Georgia in the South Atlantic.

Glacier National Park

• Glacier National Park, Montana, east of Kalispell - a large park which includes the Going-To-The-Sun Road over Logan Pass, Lake McDonald and Lake St Mary. Waterton Lakes National Park is adjacent, lying over the Canadian border in Alberta.

• Glacier National Park, British Columbia - a small park, between the towns of Revelstoke and Golden.

• Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska.

Golden

• Golden, British Columbia.

• Golden, Colorado. A suburb on the western outskirts of Denver.

• There are small towns called Golden in several other US states.

Goosenecks

Grand Canyon

• The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in northern Arizona. This is what most people normally mean by "The Grand Canyon".

• The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

• The Grand Canyon of the Snake River, Wyoming. Between Hoback Junction and Alpine, near Jackson, the Idaho border and Palisades Reservoir. US26 runs alongside the river. The Snake River also runs in a most impressive canyon near Twin Falls, Idaho.

• The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park, California. North of California State Highway 120, the Tioga Pass Road, in Yosemite's High Country. I don't think this canyon is accessible by road.

• The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. The canyon of the Pine River at Colton Point State Park, about 40 miles north-northwest of Williamsport. From US6 take Pennsylvania State Highway 660.

Hudson Bay and Hudson River

• Hudson Bay is a huge inlet in northeastern Canada. It borders Manitoba, Nunavut, Ontario, and Quebec.

• The Hudson River flows through part of New York State.

Illinois

• The state of Illinois.

• The Illinois River which flows through Illinois.

• There is another Illinois River in Oregon.

Inspiration Point

Iowa

• The state of Iowa.

• The Iowa River.

Jackson

• Jackson, Mississippi - on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

• Jackson, Wyoming, south of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

• Jackson Hole, Wyoming is the name of the valley in which the town of Jackson and the Grand Teton National Park lie, as well as a few other small towns.

• There are towns called Jackson in several other states.

• The large city of Jacksonville is in northeastern Florida.

Kansas

• The state of Kansas.

• Kansas City, Kansas.

• Kansas City, Missouri.

• The Kansas River.

Kentucky

• The state of Kentucky.

• Kentucky Lake, on the western side of Land Between The Lakes.

• The Kentucky River.

LA

• LA (pronounced "ellay") is commonly used to mean the city of Los Angeles, California.

• LA is the official abbreviation for the American state of Louisiana.

Labrador

Las Vegas

• Las Vegas, Nevada - the gambling centre.

• Las Vegas, New Mexico - east of Santa Fe.

Logan

• The town of Logan, Utah.

• Logan Pass on the Going-To-The-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana.

• Mount Logan, in Yukon Territory.

Louisiana

• The modern-day state of Louisiana.

• In historical terms, particularly in reference to the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the majority of the western part of the USA was called Louisiana.

• Lake Louise, Alberta.

Lower California

Mammoth...

• Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky.

• Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

• Mammoth Lakes, a skiing resort on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Just off US395 between Bishop and the junction with California State Road 120 (the Tioga Pass road through Yosemite National Park).

Michigan

• The state of Michigan.

• Lake Michigan.

• Michigan City, Indiana.

Manitoba

• The province of Manitoba.

• Lake Manitoba.

Minnesota

• The state of Minnesota.

• The Minnesota River.

Mississippi

• The state of Mississippi.

• The Mississippi River.

• The Missinnipi River, also more commonly called the Churchill River, in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Missouri

• The state of Missouri.

• The Missouri River.

• Missouri City, Texas.

Mount Desert Island, Acadia National Park, Maine

• The town of Natchez, Mississippi.

• The Natchez Trace Parkway runs (in approximate terms) between Nashville (Tennessee) and Natchez (Mississippi), also passing through a small part of northwestern Alabama.

• Natchez Trace State Park, Tennessee is on I-40 some 85 miles west of Nashville, and is therefore a considerable distance from the Natchez Trace Parkway.

• Natchez State Park, Mississippi is just off the Natchez Trace Parkway near its southern terminus, about ten miles northeast of the town of Natchez.

• Trace State Park, Mississippi is on Mississippi State Highway 6 just west of Tupelo, about five miles west of the Natchez Trace Parkway.

• The Trace is a completely separate road in the Tennessee Valley Authority's recreational area Land Between The Lakes, Kentucky and Tennessee.

National Parks, National Monuments, National Recreation Areas, National Forests, State Parks, Provincial Parks, etc

See also Government Agencies And Departments Responsible For Recreation Areas.

New England

New Mexico

New York

• New York City is one of many cities within New York State.

• New York State is vastly greater in size than New York City.

Northwest Territory and Northwest Territories

Ohio

• The state of Ohio.

• The Ohio River.

Oneida and Oneonta

• The city of Oneida, New York State. On I-90 between Utica and Syracuse. Pronounced "O-nye-da".

• The city of Oneonta, New York State. On I-88 east of Binghampton.

Ontario

• The Canadian province of Ontario.

• The city of Ontario, California. Between Los Angeles and San Bernardino.

• The city of Ontario, Oregon. On I-84 and the Snake River, just west of the Idaho border.

• Lake Ontario.

Portland

• Portland, Maine.

• Portland, Oregon.

• There are towns called Portland in several other states.

Prince Edward

• Prince Edward Island.

• Prince Edward County, also called Prince Edward Peninsula and Quinte's Isle, Ontario.

Québec

• The city of Québec is one of many cities within the Canadian province of Québec.

• The province of Québec is vastly greater in size than the city of Québec.

Red...

• Red Bluff, California

• Red Canyon, Utah

• Red Cliffs Mall, St George, Utah

• Red Lodge, Montana

• Red Mountain Pass, Colorado

• The Red River which flows through Oklahoma, forms the whole of the Oklahoma-Texas border, then flows through the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, finally joining the Mississippi River.

• The Red River which flows through North Dakota, forms most of the North Dakota-Minnesota border, then flows through Manitoba into Lake Winnipeg. This river is often called the Red River of the North.

• Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada

• Red Rock State Park, Arizona

• Redwood Highway, California

• Redwood Highway, California

• Redwood State Parks, California

Saguaro National Park and Sequoia National Park

• Saguaro National Park, famous for its giant saguaro cacti, is located near Tucson in southern Arizona.

• Sequoia National Park, famous for its giant sequoia trees, is located in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.

Saint John and St John's

• Saint John, New Brunswick.

• Saint John River, Maine and New Brunswick.

• St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

• St Johns River, Florida.

Salem

• Salem, Massachusetts - close to the coast, northeast of Boston. My thanks to Wakefield Carter of Los Angeles for the following comment:

  Salem, MA was the site where the infamous witchhunts and trials took place in the late 1600's. It provided the setting of the Arthur Miller book and movie "The Crucible".

• Salem, New Hampshire - just over the border from Massachusetts, north and very slightly west of Boston.

• Salem, Oregon - south of Portland.

There are towns called Salem in several other states, including no less than seven in Texas alone.

San Francisco Mountains

• The San Francisco Mountains are near Flagstaff, Arizona.

• Although there are a number of hills within the city of San Francisco, California, there are no mountains. However, Mount Tamalpais lies just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Juan

• The San Juan Islands lie off the coast of Washington State to the northwest of Seattle, south of the Gulf Islands. Deception Pass (and the associated State Park of the same name) is not a mountain pass but a narrow passage of water between two of the San Juan Islands, namely Fidalgo Island (on which the town of Anacortes is located) and Whidbey Island (on which the town of Oak Harbor is located).

• The San Juan Mountains, a sub-range of the Rockies, are in southwestern Colorado.

Saskatchewan

• The province of Saskatchewan.

• The Saskatchewan River.

• Saskatchewan River Crossing, at the junction of the Icefields Parkway and the David Thompson Highway, Alberta.

Skyline Drive

• Skyline Drive is a highly scenic road which runs for about a hundred miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains between Front Royal and Waynesboro in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

• There is another road called Skyline Drive near Cañon City, Colorado. This road is much shorter, much narrower and much more frightening.

Springfield

• Springfield, Illinois.

• Springfield, Massachusetts.

• Springfield, Missouri.

• There are towns called Springfield in several other states. The popularity of the name probably explains why a fictional Springfield in an unspecified American state was chosen as the setting for "The Simpsons" cartoon series.

St Petersburg

Mark Twain used the real town of Hannibal, Missouri as a model for the fictional town of St Petersburg in his Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn stories.

State Park Names

Tennessee

• The state of Tennessee.

• The Tennessee River.

Tejon And Teton

• I-5 crosses the Tejon Pass between Santa Clarita and Bakersfield north of Los Angeles, close to its junction with California State Highway 138. The word tejon is Spanish and means badger.

• The Grand Teton National Park is in northwest Wyoming.

Thousand Islands, Ten Thousand Islands and Thirty Thousand Islands

• The Thousand Islands of New York State (USA) and Ontario (Canada) lie in the St Lawrence River, just east of Lake Ontario.

• The Ten Thousand Islands lie off the southwest coast of Florida, south of Naples.

• The Thirty Thousand Islands lie on the east side of Georgian Bay, Ontario. Tours of the Thirty Thousand Islands can be obtained from Parry Sound.

Trace

• The Natchez Trace Parkway, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

• The Trace in the Tennessee Valley Authority's recreational area Land Between The Lakes, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Vancouver

• The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is on the mainland.

• Vancouver Island lies off the western coast of the Canadian mainland. It is part of the province of British Columbia. Vancouver Island's largest city is Victoria, which is also British Columbia's provincial capital.

• The city of Vancouver, Washington State lies just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.

Washington

• Washington State is in the northwest of the main part of the USA and has an area of 71,303 square miles. It measures about 235 miles from furthest north to furthest south and about 345 miles from furthest east to furthest west. Most of Washington State is open country and very sparsely populated.

• Washington DC (District of Columbia), the capital of the USA, is in the east. It has an area of only 68 square miles. It is entirely urban and very densely populated.

• Washington State and Washington DC are thousands of miles away from each other.

• See also Columbia River and the District Of Columbia on this page.

Waynesboro and Waynesville

• Waynesboro, Virginia is very close to the southern terminus of Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive and the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

• Waynesville, North Carolina is close to the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

• There are other towns with the same names in several other US states.

West Point

• West Point Military Academy in New York State.

• The town of West Point in Mississippi, USA.

West Virginia

• The state of West Virginia, a separate state to Virginia. West Virginia separated from the rest of Virginia during the American Civil War.

• The western part of the state of Virginia, where amongst other places the Shenandoah National Park, the Shenandoah Valley, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mount Rogers National Recreation Area are located.

White...

• Mauna Kea, Hawaii (the name means "White Mountain").

• The White House in Washington DC.

• White Mountains, Arizona (near the New Mexico border).

• White Mountains, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

• White Mountains Mall, Rock Springs, Wyoming.

• The town of White Plains, New York State.

• White Rim Road, Island In The Sky District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

• White River National Forest, Colorado.

• The town of White River, Ontario.

• White Sands National Monument, New Mexico.

• White Top Mountain, Virginia.

• The town of Whitefish, Montana.

• The town of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

• Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba.

Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis

Wisconsin

• The state of Wisconsin.

• The Wisconsin River.

Wyoming

• The state of Wyoming.

• The town of Wyoming, Michigan.

Yellowstone National Park and Yosemite National Park

• Yellowstone National Park, mainly in northwest Wyoming. The world's first national park. The park's natural features include geysers (such as Old Faithful), boiling mud pools, Mammoth Hot Springs, the Grand Canyon Of The Yellowstone, Yellowstone Lake and vast areas of forest. Wildlife species include elk, deer, moose, buffalo and bears.

• Yosemite National Park in California, on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, about 150 miles as the crow flies east of San Francisco, although the distance by road is just over two hundred miles. The park's natural features include Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, El Capitan, several magnificent waterfalls, Happy Isles, Mirror Lake, Glacier Point, the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees, the Tioga Pass, Tuolumne Meadows, Hetch Hetchey and vast areas of forest.

Yukon

• Yukon Territory.

• The Yukon River.

• The town of Yukon, Oklahoma.

Place Names

Ambiguous Place Names In Europe

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Most recently modified 25-Feb-05