Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Saint Helens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Saint Helens and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Saint Helens
- 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 West Saint Helens:
- 45.857614, -122.827326
- 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 West Saint Helens
- 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 Columbia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- Since West Saint Helens is near Clark County and also Cowlitz County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clark County
- eBird sighting report for Cowlitz 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 West Saint Helens ...
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.
- Bachelor Flat ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bachelor Flat have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bachelor Flat
- Bachelor Flat is located in Columbia County
- Deer Island
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Island
- Deer Island is located in Columbia County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Island <2>
- Dixie ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Dollar's Corner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dollar's Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dollar's Corner
- Dollar's Corner is located in Clark County (WA)
- Good Hope
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Highland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - King Corner
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King Corner
- King Corner is located in Clark County (WA)
- Knapp
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Knapp Landing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knapp Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knapp Landing
- Knapp Landing is located in Clark County (WA)
- Pioneer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
- Pioneer is located in Clark County (WA)
- Trojan
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
How Far From West Saint Helens 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 West Saint Helens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in West Saint Helens and extending to:
- Saint Helens, which is the Seat of Columbia County, lies just to the East.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 64 miles [103 km]<3> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from West Saint Helens to Salem, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,351 miles [3,783.6 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 92 days and walking would take 134 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,895 miles [11,096.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,657 miles [12,322.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,774 miles [9,292.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Saint Helens. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Columbia County: www.co.columbia.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> | 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 from Point A (ie- West Saint Helens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Saint Helens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.8576, Longitude: -122.8273 In this case, the coordinates for West Saint Helens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 West Saint Helens to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.195 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.717 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.20 degrees. |