RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Dakota >> Mountrail County >> Van Hook >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
North Dakota

The Commemorative Quarter for North Dakota





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Van Hook, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Hook 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 Van Hook:
    • 47.937413, -102.358049
    • 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 Van Hook
  • 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 Van Hook ...

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.

  • Charging Eagle ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Elbowoods ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elbowoods. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbowoods
    • Elbowoods is located in McLean County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Elbowoods
    • From Van Hook to Elbowoods
  • Four Bears Village
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Hawkeye
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawkeye have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
    • Hawkeye is located in McKenzie County
  • Independance ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Lucky Mound ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Prairie Junction
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Junction
    • Prairie Junction is located in Mountrail County
  • Shell Creek ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Spotted Horn
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spotted Horn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spotted Horn
    • Spotted Horn is located in McKenzie County
  • Stanley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)

How Far From Van Hook to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Van Hook to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Van Hook and extending to:

  • Stanley, which is the Seat of Mountrail County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<4> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Van Hook to Stanley, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Bismarck, which is the State Capital of North Dakota, lies 107 miles [172.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,406 miles [2,262.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,331 miles [10,188.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,098 miles [11,423.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,064 miles [8,149.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Van Hook. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of North Dakota: https://www.nd.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Van Hook) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Van Hook. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.9374, Longitude: -102.3580    
<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 Van Hook 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 325.002 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.175 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.157 degrees.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025