RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Northumberland County >> Bear Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bear Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bear 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 Bear Valley:
    • 40.773351, -76.577091
    • 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 Bear 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 Northumberland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Northumberland County
    • Since Bear Valley is near Schuylkill County and also Columbia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuylkill County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia 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 Bear Valley

Communities Also Named Bear Valley ...

We found eight communities that are also named Bear Valley.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Bear Valley is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Alpine County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Alpine County and lies 2,293 miles [3,690.2 km]<1> to the west of the Bear Valley that is located in Northumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alpine County community of Bear Valley.
      • Mariposa County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Mariposa County and lies 2,317 miles [3,728.9 km] to the west of the Bear Valley that is located in Northumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mariposa County community of Bear Valley.
      • Nevada County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Bear Valley [Nevada County].
      • Shasta County
      • This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Bear Valley [Shasta County].
    • Colorado
      • Denver County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Denver County and lies 1,497 miles [2,409.2 km]<1> to the west of the Bear Valley that is located in Northumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Denver County community of Bear Valley.
    • Minnesota
      • Wabasha County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Wabasha County and lies 843 miles [1,356.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bear Valley that is located in Northumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wabasha County community of Bear Valley.
    • Ontario
      • This Bear Valley lies 391 miles [629.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Bear Valley that is located in Northumberland County.
    • Wisconsin
      • Richland County
      • This Bear Valley is located in Richland County and lies 719 miles [1,157.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bear Valley that is located in Northumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Bear Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bear 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.

  • Big Mountain
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Big Mountain is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Mountain
  • Coal Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Coal Run is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Run
  • Ferndale
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ferndale is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
  • Greenback
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Greenback is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenback
  • Line Mountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Line Mountain is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Line Mountain
  • Overlook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Overlook is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overlook
  • Point Breeze
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Point Breeze is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Breeze
  • Sunnyside
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Sunnyside is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Uniontown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Uniontown is located in Northumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown

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

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

  • Sunbury, which is the Seat of Northumberland County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bear Valley to Sunbury, 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.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 37 miles [59.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 131 miles [210.8 km] to the south (S). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,799 miles [9,332.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,511 miles [10,478.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,386 miles [7,058.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Bear Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Bear Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Bear 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 Bear Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7734, Longitude: -76.5771    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.477 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.263 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.766 degrees.