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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vale and the surrounding area.
- 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 Vale:
- 44.620395, -103.402594
- 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 Vale
- 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 Butte County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Butte County
- Since Vale is near Meade County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Meade County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Vale
Communities Also Named Vale ...
We found eleven communities that are also named Vale.
Within South Dakota, the name Vale is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Solano County
- This Vale is located in Solano County and lies 1,042 miles [1,676.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Solano County community of Vale.
- Maryland
- Harford County
- This Vale is located in Harford County and lies 1,421 miles [2,286.9 km]<1> to the east of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Vale.
- Missouri
- Douglas County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Vale [Douglas County].
- Jackson County
- This Vale is located in Jackson County and lies 604 miles [972 km]<1> to the southeast of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Vale.
- North Carolina
- Avery County
- This Vale is located in Avery County and lies 1,267 miles [2,039 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Avery County community of Vale.
- Lincoln County
- This Vale is located in Lincoln County and lies 1,314 miles [2,114.7 km] to the east southeast of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Vale.
- Oregon
- Malheur County
- This Vale is located in Malheur County and lies 684 miles [1,100.8 km]<1> to the west of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Malheur County community of Vale.
- Tennessee
- Carroll County
- This Vale is located in Carroll County and lies 987 miles [1,588.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Vale.
- Virginia
- Fairfax County
- This Vale is located in Fairfax County and lies 1,392 miles [2,240.2 km]<1> to the east of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Vale.
- West Virginia
- Greenbrier County
- This Vale is located in Greenbrier County and lies 1,260 miles [2,027.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Vale that is located in Butte County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenbrier County community of Vale.
- Wisconsin
- Chippewa County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Vale [Chippewa County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vale ...
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.
- Bear Butte
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bear Butte is located in Meade County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Butte
- Centennial City ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Centennial City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centennial City
- Crook City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Elizabethtown ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Elizabethtown is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
- Empire
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Empire is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Fruitdale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Galena
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jolly
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Jolly is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
- Jolly Dump
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Jolly Dump is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly Dump
- Volunteer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Volunteer is located in Meade County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volunteer
How Far From Vale 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 Vale to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vale and extending to:
- Belle Fourche, which is the Seat of Butte County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Vale to Belle Fourche, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 151 miles [243 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,407 miles [2,264.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,548 miles [10,538 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 7,313 miles [11,769.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,263 miles [8,470 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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- Vale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Vale could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Vale 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 Vale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.6204, Longitude: -103.4026 |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.684 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.586 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.401 degrees. |
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