RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Howard County >> Valley Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Valley Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Valley Ridge 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 Valley Ridge:
    • 34.217890, -94.221315
    • 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 Valley Ridge
  • 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Valley Ridge is near Polk County and also Sevier County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sevier 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 Valley Ridge

Communities Also Named Valley Ridge ...

We found nine communities that are also named Valley Ridge.

Within Arkansas, the name Valley Ridge is unique.

Beyond Arkansas, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Valley Ridge lies 1,536 miles [2,472 km]<1> to the northwest of the Valley Ridge that is located in Howard County.
    • Minnesota
      • Dakota County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Valley Ridge [Dakota County].
    • Missouri
      • Dunklin County
      • This Valley Ridge is located in Dunklin County and lies 283 miles [455.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Valley Ridge that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dunklin County community of Valley Ridge.
    • Nebraska
      • Blaine County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Blaine County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blaine County community of Valley Ridge.
    • Texas
      • Brazos County
      • Although located in Brazos County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brazos County community of Valley Ridge.
      • Tarrant County
      • This Valley Ridge is located in Tarrant County and lies 207 miles [333.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Valley Ridge that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tarrant County community of Valley Ridge.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Valley Ridge is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,060 miles [1,705.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Valley Ridge that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Valley Ridge.
    • Virginia
      • Alleghany County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Valley Ridge [Alleghany County].
    • Washington
      • King County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Valley Ridge [King County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Valley Ridge ...

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.

  • Antimony ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Antimony is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antimony
  • Cedar Hill ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Cross Trails ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Cross Trails is located in Sevier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Trails
  • Flowers Mill Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Galena
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Galena is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
  • Holly Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Holly Grove is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Grove
  • King
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • King is located in Sevier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
  • Mineral
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Mineral is located in Sevier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
  • Pryor Ridge ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Pryor Ridge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pryor Ridge
  • Red Hill ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Red Hill is located in Sevier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
  • Umpire
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Umpire is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umpire

How Far From Valley Ridge 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 Valley Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Valley Ridge once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Valley Ridge and extending to:

  • Nashville, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Valley Ridge to Nashville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 117 miles [188.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 1,004 miles [1,615.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 57 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,812 miles [10,962.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,544 miles [12,140.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,422 miles [8,725.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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- Valley Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Valley Ridge 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>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 Valley Ridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Valley Ridge 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 Valley Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2179, Longitude: -94.2213       In this case, the coordinates for Valley Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.40 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.866 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.32 degrees.