RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Calaveras County >> Big Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big 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 Big Valley:
    • 38.131865, -120.427976
    • 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 Big 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 Calaveras County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calaveras County
    • Since Big Valley is near Tuolumne County and also Amador County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuolumne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amador 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 Big Valley

Communities Also Named Big Valley ...

We found two communities that are also named Big Valley.

Within California, the name Big Valley is unique.

Beyond California, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Big Valley lies 1,028 miles [1,654.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Big Valley that is located in Calaveras County.
    • Texas
      • Mills County
      • This Big Valley is located in Mills County and lies 1,316 miles [2,117.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Big Valley that is located in Calaveras County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mills County community of Big Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big 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.

  • Cave City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cave City is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave City
  • Forest Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Forest Meadows is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Meadows
  • Indian Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Indian Creek is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Indian Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Hills is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Parrotts Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Parrotts Ferry is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrotts Ferry
  • Red Apple
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Red Apple is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Apple
  • Rocky Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rocky Hill is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Hill
  • Sheep Ranch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Sunset Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunset Point is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Point
  • Timber Trails
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Timber Trails is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Trails
  • Yankee Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Yankee Hill is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill

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

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

  • San Andreas, which is the Seat of Calaveras County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Big Valley to San Andreas, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 65 miles [104.6 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,322 miles [3,736.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,354 miles [11,835.1 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 8,121 miles [13,069.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,159 miles [9,911.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Big Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Big 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 Big Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1319, Longitude: -120.4280       In this case, the coordinates for Big Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.569 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.208 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.945 degrees.