RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oregon >> Polk County >> Bethel Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bethel Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bethel Heights 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 Bethel Heights:
    • 45.044562, -123.150656
    • 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 Bethel Heights
  • 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
    • Since Bethel Heights is near Yamhill County and also Marion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yamhill County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion 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 Bethel Heights

Communities Also Named Bethel Heights ...

We found two communities that are also named Bethel Heights.

Within Oregon, the name Bethel Heights is unique.

Beyond Oregon, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Benton County
      • This Bethel Heights is located in Benton County and lies 1,627 miles [2,618.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Bethel Heights that is located in Polk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Bethel Heights.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Bethel Heights is located in Hillsborough County and lies 2,513 miles [4,044.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Bethel Heights that is located in Polk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Bethel Heights.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bethel Heights ...

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.

  • Brush College
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Brush College is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush College
  • Clear Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Clear Lake is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
  • Hopewell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Lincoln
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
  • Oak Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Oak Grove is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Tucker ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Tucker is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
  • Unionvale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Unionvale is located in Yamhill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionvale
  • Wheatland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Wheatland is located in Yamhill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland

How Far From Bethel Heights 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 Bethel Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Dallas, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bethel Heights to Dallas, 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.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast (SE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,372 miles [3,817.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 135 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,953 miles [11,189.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,715 miles [12,416.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,830 miles [9,382.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bethel Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Bethel Heights 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 Bethel Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.0446, Longitude: -123.1507       In this case, the coordinates for Bethel Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.417 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.938 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.455 degrees.