Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rainbow Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rainbow Valley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rainbow Valley
- 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 Rainbow Valley:
- 33.231990, -112.387101
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Rainbow 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:
- eBird sighting report for Maricopa County
- Since Rainbow Valley is near Pinal County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Rainbow Valley ...
We found two communities that share the name Rainbow Valley.
Within Arizona, the name Rainbow Valley is unique.
Beyond Arizona, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- San Diego County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Rainbow Valley [San Diego County].
- Colorado
- Teller County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Rainbow Valley [Teller County].
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rainbow 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.
- Buckeye
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
- Buckeye is located in Maricopa County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 85,224 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buckeye <2>
- Cartwright
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cartwright have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartwright
- Cartwright is located in Maricopa County
- Co-op Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Co-op Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Co-op Village
- Co-op Village is located in Maricopa County
- Cotton Center
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cotton Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Center
- Cotton Center is located in Maricopa County
- Fowler
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast) - Goodyear
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodyear
- Goodyear is located in Maricopa County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 90,622 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goodyear <2>
- Heaton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast) - Liberty
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Liberty is located in Maricopa County
- Liberty Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Village
- Liberty Village is located in Maricopa County
How Far From Rainbow Valley to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Rainbow Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Rainbow Valley and extending to:
- Phoenix, which is the Seat of Maricopa County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<4> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rainbow Valley to Phoenix, with an average speed<5> 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 most of a day.
- Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 23 miles [37 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,998 miles [3,215.5 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 78 days and walking would take 114 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,469 miles [12,020.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,234 miles [13,251.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,173 miles [9,934.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rainbow Valley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Maricopa County: www.maricopa.gov/
The official website for State of Arizona: https://az.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rainbow 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rainbow Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rainbow Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2320, Longitude: -112.3871 In this case, the coordinates for Rainbow Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Rainbow Valley to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 331.372 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 330.17 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 322.345 degrees. |