Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Scotts Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Scotts Valley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Scotts Valley
- 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 Scotts Valley:
- 37.055527, -122.012057
- 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 Scotts 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 Santa Cruz County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Santa Cruz County
- Since Scotts Valley is near Santa Clara County and also Monterey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Santa Clara County
- eBird sighting report for Monterey 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 Scotts 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.
- Bonny Doon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonny Doon
- Bonny Doon is located in Santa Cruz County
- Bonny Doon has also been known as:
- Bonnie Doon
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bonny Doon <1>
- Boulder Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Creek
- Boulder Creek is located in Santa Cruz County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boulder Creek <1>
- Forest Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
- Forest Park is located in Santa Cruz County
- Highland ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Holy City ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Magnetic Spring ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Magnetic Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnetic Spring
- Magnetic Spring is located in Santa Cruz County
- Majors
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Mission Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Springs
- Mission Springs is located in Santa Cruz County
- Opal Cliffs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opal Cliffs
- Opal Cliffs is located in Santa Cruz County
- Paradise Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
- Paradise Park is located in Santa Cruz County
- Petroleum ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Seabright
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Seacliff ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Twin Lakes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in Santa Cruz County
How Far From Scotts Valley 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 city such as Scotts Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Scotts Valley and extending to:
- Santa Cruz, which is the Seat of Santa Cruz County, lies just to the South.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 109 miles [175.4 km]<3> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Scotts Valley to Sacramento, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,426 miles [3,904.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,454 miles [11,996.1 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 6,268 miles [10,087.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Scotts Valley: www.scottsvalley.org/
The official website for Santa Cruz County: www.co.santa-cruz.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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Scotts Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Scotts Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0555, Longitude: -122.0121 |
| <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 Scotts Valley 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 339.781 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.611 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.912 degrees. |