RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arizona >> Maricopa County >> Paradise Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Paradise Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Paradise Valley 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 Paradise Valley:
    • 33.531128, -111.943177
    • 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 Paradise Valley
  • 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 Maricopa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Maricopa County
    • Since Paradise Valley is near Pinal County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pinal 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 Paradise Valley

Communities Also Named Paradise Valley ...

We found eight communities that are also named Paradise Valley.

Within Arizona, the name Paradise Valley is unique.

Beyond Arizona, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, six are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Paradise Valley lies 1,348 miles [2,169.4 km]<1> to the north of the Paradise Valley that is located in Maricopa County.
    • British Columbia
      • This Paradise Valley lies 1,261 miles [2,029.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Paradise Valley that is located in Maricopa County.
    • Georgia
      • Clarke 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 Georgia community of Paradise Valley [Clarke County].
    • Nevada
      • Clark 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 Nevada community of Paradise Valley [Clark County].
      • Humboldt County
      • This Paradise Valley is located in Humboldt County and lies 629 miles [1,012.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Paradise Valley that is located in Maricopa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humboldt County community of Paradise Valley.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Monroe County
      • This Paradise Valley is located in Monroe County and lies 2,063 miles [3,320.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Paradise Valley that is located in Maricopa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Paradise Valley.
    • Texas
      • Harris County
      • This Paradise Valley is located in Harris County and lies 1,010 miles [1,625.4 km]<1> to the east of the Paradise Valley that is located in Maricopa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Paradise Valley.
    • Wyoming
      • Natrona County
      • This Paradise Valley is located in Natrona County and lies 707 miles [1,137.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Paradise Valley that is located in Maricopa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Natrona County community of Paradise Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Paradise Valley ...

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.

  • Bronze Boot
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bronze Boot is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronze Boot
  • Cactus
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cactus is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cactus
  • Cactus Villa
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cactus Villa is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cactus Villa
  • Chimney Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Chimney Hill is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Hill
  • Continental Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Continental Village is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Continental Village
  • Firebrand Ranch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Firebrand Ranch is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firebrand Ranch
  • Heritage Court
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Heritage Court is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Court
  • Heritage Terrace
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Heritage Terrace is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Terrace
  • Links Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Links Point is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Links Point
  • Minnesota Court
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Minnesota Court is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnesota Court
  • Mission Monterey
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mission Monterey is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Monterey
  • Salt River
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Salt River is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt River
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Shadow Mountain
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Shadow Mountain is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Mountain
    • Skyline Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Skyline Heights is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Heights
    • Sweetwater Garden
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sweetwater Garden is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater Garden
    • Sweetwater Ranch
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sweetwater Ranch is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater Ranch
    • Village Fairways
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Village Fairways is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Fairways
    • Wheel Inn Ranch
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Wheel Inn Ranch is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheel Inn Ranch
    • Woodleaf
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Woodleaf is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodleaf

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

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

  • Phoenix, which is the Seat of Maricopa County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Paradise Valley to Phoenix, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest (SW). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,967 miles [3,165.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take three full days, a buggy would take 77 days and walking would take 112 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,439 miles [11,971.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,203 miles [13,201.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,141 miles [9,883 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Paradise Valley) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Paradise Valley 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>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.
<4>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 Paradise Valley 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 Paradise Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5311, Longitude: -111.9432    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 331.069 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 329.831 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 322.103 degrees.