RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Jackson County >> Grain Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Grain Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grain 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 Grain Valley:
    • 39.016602, -94.207909
    • 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 Grain 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Grain Valley is near Lafayette County and also Cass County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lafayette County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cass 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 Grain Valley

Curious and Interesting Names Near Grain 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.

  • Chapel Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Hicks City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hicks City is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks City
  • Lake City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lake City is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
  • Lee's Summit
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Little Blue
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Little Blue is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Blue
  • Lone Jack
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Napoleon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Napoleon is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
  • Oak Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Pink Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Pink Hill is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pink Hill
  • Six-Mile
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Six-Mile is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six-Mile
  • Unity Village
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Unity Village is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity Village
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Grain Valley and extending to:

  • Independence, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Grain Valley to Independence, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 920 miles [1,480.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 53 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,563 miles [10,562.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,307 miles [11,759.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,195 miles [8,360.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Grain Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Grain 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 Grain Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0166, Longitude: -94.2079       In this case, the coordinates for Grain Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.773 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.921 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.494 degrees.