Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Balch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balch and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Balch
- 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 Balch:
- 35.042763, -116.027510
- 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 Balch
- 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 San Bernardino County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for San Bernardino 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 Balch ...
We found five communities that share the name Balch.
Within California, the name Balch is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Michigan
- Kalamazoo 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 Michigan community of Balch [Kalamazoo County].
- Lenawee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Balch [Lenawee County].
- Washington
- Grays Harbor County
- This Balch is located in Grays Harbor County and lies 894 miles [1,438.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Balch that is located in San Bernardino County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grays Harbor County community of Balch.
- Pierce 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 Balch [Pierce County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Balch ...
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.
- Basin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west) - Glasgow ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Hector
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest) - King ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Ragtown ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south) - Rainbow Wells
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainbow Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Wells
- Rainbow Wells is located in San Bernardino County
- Talc ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north) - Zzyzx
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zzyzx
- Zzyzx is located in San Bernardino County
- Former names for Zzyzx:
- Camp Soda
- Soda Springs
How Far From Balch 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 Balch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Balch and extending to:
- San Bernardino, which is the Seat of San Bernardino County, lies 97 miles [156.1 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could drive a straight line from Balch to San Bernardino, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 388 miles [624.4 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 22 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,151 miles [3,461.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 84 days and walking would take 123 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,452 miles [11,992.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,221 miles [13,230.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,197 miles [9,973.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Balch. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for San Bernardino County: www.sbcounty.gov/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Balch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Balch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0428, Longitude: -116.0275 In this case, the coordinates for Balch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Balch 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> | 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> | 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 Balch to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 334.559 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.173 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.363 degrees. |