Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Valsetz, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Valsetz and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Valsetz
- 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 Valsetz:
- 44.840336, -123.657905
- 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 Valsetz
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Since Valsetz is near Lincoln County and also Benton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
- eBird sighting report for Benton 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Valsetz ...
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.
- Chitwood ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest) - Ellendale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Ellendale is located in Polk County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Ellendale
- From Valsetz to Ellendale
- Falls City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
- Falls City is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,070 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falls City <2>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Falls City
- From Valsetz to Falls City
- Fern Corner
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fern Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Corner
- Fern Corner is located in Polk County
- Ferns ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east) - Four Cabin Corner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Cabin Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Cabin Corner
- Four Cabin Corner is located in Lincoln County
- Gold Creek
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gold Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Creek
- Gold Creek is located in Polk County
- Kings Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Valley
- Kings Valley is located in Benton County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kings Valley <2>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Kings Valley
- From Valsetz to Kings Valley
- Lewisville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lewisville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
- Lewisville is located in Polk County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Lewisville
- From Valsetz to Lewisville
- Link
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast) - Little Elk ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Elk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Elk
- Little Elk is located in Lincoln County
- Maple Grove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Maple Grove is located in Polk County
- Pedee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Valley Junction
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Junction
- Valley Junction is located in Polk County
How Far From Valsetz 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 Valsetz to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Valsetz once stood, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Valsetz and extending to:
- Dallas, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<5> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Valsetz to Dallas, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 31 miles [49.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,398 miles [3,859.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 137 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,974 miles [11,223.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,736 miles [12,449.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,855 miles [9,422.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.or.us/
The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Valsetz, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Valsetz) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Valsetz. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8403, Longitude: -123.6579 |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Valsetz to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.828 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.411 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.794 degrees. |