Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Valparaiso, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Valparaiso and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Valparaiso
- 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 Valparaiso:
- 41.478161, -87.055432
- 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 Valparaiso
- 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 Porter County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Porter County
- Since Valparaiso is near LaPorte County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for LaPorte County
- eBird sighting report for Lake 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 Valparaiso ...
We found four communities that share the name Valparaiso.
Within Indiana, the name Valparaiso is unique.
Beyond Indiana, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Okaloosa County
- This Valparaiso is located in Okaloosa County and lies 757 miles [1,218.3 km]<1> to the south of the Valparaiso that is located in Porter County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Okaloosa County community of Valparaiso.
- Kansas
- Stevens County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Valparaiso [Stevens County].
- Nebraska
- Saunders County
- This Valparaiso is located in Saunders County and lies 507 miles [815.9 km]<1> to the west of the Valparaiso that is located in Porter County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saunders County community of Valparaiso.
- Saskatchewan
- This Valparaiso lies 1,118 miles [1,799.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Valparaiso that is located in Porter County.
- Florida
Curious and Interesting Names Near Valparaiso ...
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.
- Edgewater
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Forest Oaks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Oaks
- Forest Oaks is located in Porter County
- Gates Corner
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gates Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gates Corner
- Gates Corner is located in Porter County
- Hillcrest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Lake Eliza
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Eliza have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Eliza
- Lake Eliza is located in Porter County
- Lake View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Lincoln Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Hills
- Lincoln Hills is located in Porter County
- Long Lake Island
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Lake Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake Island
- Long Lake Island is located in Porter County
- Porter Crossroads
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Crossroads
- Porter Crossroads is located in Porter County
- Smoke Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smoke Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Corner
- Smoke Corner is located in Porter County
How Far From Valparaiso 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 Valparaiso to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Valparaiso and extending to:
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 127 miles [204.4 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Valparaiso to Indianapolis, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 557 miles [896.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,180 miles [9,945.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,917 miles [11,131.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,798 miles [7,721.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Valparaiso: www.ci.valparaiso.in.us/
The official website for Porter County: www.porterco.org/
The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Valparaiso) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Valparaiso. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4782, Longitude: -87.0554 |
| <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 Valparaiso 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 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 Valparaiso 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 314.057 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.842 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.40 degrees. |