RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Wabasha County >> Bear Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Bear Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bear Valley and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Bear Valley:
    • 44.303300, -92.477406
    • 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 Bear 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 Wabasha County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wabasha County
    • Since Bear Valley is near Goodhue County and also Olmsted County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Goodhue County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Olmsted 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 Bear Valley

Communities Also Named Bear Valley ...

We found eight communities that are also named Bear Valley.

Within Minnesota, the name Bear Valley is unique.

Beyond Minnesota, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Alpine County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Alpine County and lies 1,476 miles [2,375.4 km]<1> to the west of the Bear Valley that is located in Wabasha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alpine County community of Bear Valley.
      • Mariposa County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Mariposa County and lies 1,506 miles [2,423.7 km] to the west of the Bear Valley that is located in Wabasha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mariposa County community of Bear Valley.
      • Nevada County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Bear Valley [Nevada County].
      • Shasta County
      • This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Bear Valley [Shasta County].
    • Colorado
      • Denver County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Denver County and lies 719 miles [1,157.1 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Bear Valley that is located in Wabasha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Denver County community of Bear Valley.
    • Ontario
      • This Bear Valley lies 631 miles [1,015.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bear Valley that is located in Wabasha County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Northumberland County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Northumberland County and lies 843 miles [1,356.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Bear Valley that is located in Wabasha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Northumberland County community of Bear Valley.
    • Wisconsin
      • Richland County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Richland County and lies 132 miles [212.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Bear Valley that is located in Wabasha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Bear Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bear 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.

  • Cedar Beach
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Beach is located in Olmsted County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Beach
  • Claybank
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Claybank is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claybank
  • Forest Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Forest Mills is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Mills
  • Hay Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Hay Creek is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay Creek
  • Lake City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Oak Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Oak Center is located in Wabasha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Center
  • Pine Island
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • White Willow
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • White Willow is located in Goodhue County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Willow

How Far From Bear 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 community such as Bear Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bear Valley and extending to:

  • Wabasha, which is the Seat of Wabasha County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bear Valley to Wabasha, with an average speed<4> 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 most of a day.
  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 54 miles [86.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 878 miles [1,413 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,231 miles [10,027.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,984 miles [11,239.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,887 miles [7,864.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Bear Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Bear Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Bear 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 Bear Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3033, Longitude: -92.4774       In this case, the coordinates for Bear Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.739 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.434 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.393 degrees.