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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fountain Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fountain 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 Fountain Valley:
    • 33.708932, -117.954485
    • 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 Fountain 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 Orange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Since Fountain Valley is near Los Angeles County and also San Bernardino County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Los Angeles County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Fountain Valley

Communities Also Named Fountain Valley ...

We found three communities that are also named Fountain Valley.

Within California, the name Fountain Valley is unique.

Beyond California, we know of three communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Fountain Valley lies 1,192 miles [1,918.3 km]<1> to the north of the Fountain Valley that is located in Orange County.
    • Maryland
      • Carroll County
      • This Fountain Valley is located in Carroll County and lies 2,282 miles [3,672.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Fountain Valley that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Fountain Valley.
    • Wisconsin
      • Waushara County
      • This Fountain Valley is located in Waushara County and lies 1,702 miles [2,739.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Fountain Valley that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Waushara County community of Fountain Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fountain 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.

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

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

  • Santa Ana, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 389 miles [626 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Fountain Valley to Sacramento, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 23 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 16 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,285 miles [3,677.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 130 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,582 miles [12,202 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 8,351 miles [13,439.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,335 miles [10,195.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

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- Fountain 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 Fountain 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 Fountain Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7089, Longitude: -117.9545    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 335.95 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.767 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.459 degrees.