Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Helmer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Helmer and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Helmer
- 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 Helmer:
- 46.800732, -116.470155
- 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 Helmer
- 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 Latah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Latah County
- Since Helmer is near Clearwater County and also Shoshone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clearwater County
- eBird sighting report for Shoshone 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 Helmer ...
We found four communities that share the name Helmer.
Within Idaho, the name Helmer is unique.
Beyond Idaho, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Helmer ...
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 George
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big George have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big George
- Big George is located in Nez Perce County
- Chambers ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest) - Cornwall
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west) - Crescent
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Dent
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast) - Elk River
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River
- Elk River is located in Clearwater County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk River <4>
- Emerald Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Creek
- Emerald Creek is located in Shoshone County
- Five Corners ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
- Five Corners is located in Clearwater County
- Harvard
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard
- Harvard is located in Latah County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harvard <4>
- Joel
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west) - Lenville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest) - Slabtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Helmer 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 Helmer to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Helmer and extending to:
- Moscow, which is the Seat of Latah County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Helmer to Moscow, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Boise City, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 220 miles [354.1 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,046 miles [3,292.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 4 days, a buggy would take 80 days and walking would take 117 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,724 miles [10,821.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,491 miles [12,055.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,551 miles [8,933.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Helmer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Latah County: www.latah.id.us/
The official website for State of Idaho: https://idaho.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Helmer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Helmer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.8007, Longitude: -116.4702 In this case, the coordinates for Helmer 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 Helmer 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Helmer to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.026 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.758 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.037 degrees. |