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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Grand Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grand Valley and the surrounding area.
- 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 Grand Valley:
- 42.974468, -85.869761
- 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.
- Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Grand 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 Ottawa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Ottawa County
- Since Grand Valley is near Kent County and also Allegan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Kent County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Allegan 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Grand Valley
Communities Also Named Grand Valley ...
We found four communities that are also named Grand Valley.
Within Michigan, the name Grand Valley is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Manitoba
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Manitoba community of Grand Valley.
- Oklahoma
- Beaver 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 Oklahoma community of Grand Valley [Beaver County].
- Ontario
- This Grand Valley lies 285 miles [458.7 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Grand Valley that is located in Ottawa County.
- Pennsylvania
- Warren County
- This Grand Valley is located in Warren County and lies 334 miles [537.5 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Grand Valley that is located in Ottawa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Grand Valley.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Grand 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.
- Alpine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Alpine is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Beaverdam
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Beaverdam is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdam
- Beverly
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Beverly is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
- Clyde Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Clyde Park is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde Park
- Forest Grove Station
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Forest Grove Station is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove Station
- Fruit Ridge Center
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fruit Ridge Center is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruit Ridge Center
- Galewood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Galewood is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galewood
- Grand Rapids
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Jamestown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Jamestown is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Pearline
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Pearline is located in Ottawa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearline
- Wyoming
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Grand Valley 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 Grand Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Grand Valley and extending to:
- Grand Haven, which is the Seat of Ottawa County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<3> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Grand Valley to Grand Haven, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 68 miles [109.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 539 miles [867.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,065 miles [9,760.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,803 miles [10,948.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,687 miles [7,543 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Grand Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Grand Valley 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Grand Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Grand Valley to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grand Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9745, Longitude: -85.8698 In this case, the coordinates for Grand Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.249 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.139 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.353 degrees. |
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