Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Valley Downs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Valley Downs and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Valley Downs
- 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 Valley Downs:
- 38.113959, -85.873019
- 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 Valley Downs
- 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since Valley Downs is near Harrison County and also Bullitt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Harrison County
- eBird sighting report for Bullitt 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 Valley Downs ...
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.
- Bethany
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Fishtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Greenwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Hunters Trace
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunters Trace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Trace
- Hunters Trace is located in Jefferson County
- Locust Point
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Locust Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Point
- Locust Point is located in Harrison County (IN)
- Meadow Lawn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Lawn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lawn
- Meadow Lawn is located in Jefferson County
- Prairie Village
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
- Prairie Village is located in Jefferson County
- Sugar Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Harrison County (IN)
- Valley
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Valley Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Gardens
- Valley Gardens is located in Jefferson County
- Valley Station
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Station have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Station
- Valley Station is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valley Station <3>
How Far From Valley Downs 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 community such as Valley Downs to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Valley Downs and extending to:
- Louisville, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Valley Downs to Louisville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 54 miles [86.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 480 miles [772.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,295 miles [10,130.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,019 miles [11,296 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,894 miles [7,876.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Valley Downs. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jefferson County: www.loukymetro.org/
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Valley Downs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Valley Downs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1140, Longitude: -85.8730 In this case, the coordinates for Valley Downs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Valley Downs to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.281 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.476 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.794 degrees. |