Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Balance Rock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balance Rock and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Balance Rock
- 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 Balance Rock:
- 35.806062, -118.652033
- 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 Balance Rock
- 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 Tulare County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Tulare County
- Since Balance Rock is near Kern County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Kern 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Balance Rock ...
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.
- California Hot Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California Hot Springs
- California Hot Springs is located in Tulare County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for California Hot Springs <1>
- Glennville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glennville
- Glennville is located in Kern County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glennville <1>
- Guernsey Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guernsey Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guernsey Mill
- Guernsey Mill is located in Tulare County
- Idlewild
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Pleasant View
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Pleasant View is located in Tulare County
- Posey
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posey
- Posey is located in Tulare County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Posey <1>
- Sugarloaf Mountain Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugarloaf Mountain Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Mountain Park
- Sugarloaf Mountain Park is located in Tulare County
- Sugarloaf Village
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugarloaf Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Village
- Sugarloaf Village is located in Tulare County
How Far From Balance Rock to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Balance Rock 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<3> community of Balance Rock once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Balance Rock and extending to:
- Visalia, which is the Seat of Tulare County, lies 51 miles [82.1 km]<4> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Balance Rock to Visalia, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 246 miles [395.9 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,274 miles [3,659.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 89 days and walking would take 130 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,465 miles [12,013.8 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 6,238 miles [10,039.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Tulare County: www.co.tulare.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <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 Balance Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 drawn from Point A (ie- Balance Rock) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Balance Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8061, Longitude: -118.6520 In this case, the coordinates for Balance Rock 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 Balance Rock 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 336.817 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.957 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.887 degrees. |