Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Norval, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Norval and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Norval
- 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 Norval:
- 38.184363, -120.841326
- 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 Norval
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Calaveras County
- Since Norval is near Amador County and also San Joaquin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Amador County
- eBird sighting report for San Joaquin 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 Norval ...
We found three communities that share the name Norval.
Within California, the name Norval is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ontario
- This Norval lies 2,172 miles [3,495.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Norval that is located in Calaveras County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Norval ...
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.
- Big Bar
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bar
- Big Bar is located in Calaveras County
- Chinatown ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Felix
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Firebrick
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Fourth Crossing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fourth Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourth Crossing
- Fourth Crossing is located in Calaveras County
- Happy Valley ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Happy Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
- Happy Valley is located in Calaveras County
- Jenny Lind
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenny Lind
- Jenny Lind is located in Calaveras County
- Jesus Maria
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jesus Maria have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jesus Maria
- Jesus Maria is located in Calaveras County
- Lost City ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Oregon Bar ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oregon Bar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon Bar
- Oregon Bar is located in Calaveras County
- Quail Oaks
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quail Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Oaks
- Quail Oaks is located in Calaveras County
- Sunnybrook
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunnybrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybrook
- Sunnybrook is located in Amador County
- Valley Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Springs
- Valley Springs is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valley Springs <5>
- Whale Boat Ferry
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whale Boat Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whale Boat Ferry
- Whale Boat Ferry is located in Amador County
- Oak Grove
How Far From Norval 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 Norval 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<6> community of Norval once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Norval and extending to:
- San Andreas, which is the Seat of Calaveras County, lies just to the East.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 44 miles [70.8 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Norval to Sacramento, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,343 miles [3,770.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 134 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,358 miles [11,841.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,126 miles [13,077.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,168 miles [9,926.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Calaveras County: www.co.calaveras.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.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 Norval 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Norval) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Norval. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1844, Longitude: -120.8413 In this case, the coordinates for Norval have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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 Norval, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Norval to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.92 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.633 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.197 degrees. |