Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Balch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balch and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Balch
- 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 Balch:
- 46.814543, -123.243202
- 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 Balch
- 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 Grays Harbor County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Grays Harbor County
- Since Balch is near Thurston County and also Lewis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Thurston County
- eBird sighting report for Lewis 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
Communities Also Named Balch ...
We found five communities that share the name Balch.
There is one other community in Washington which is also named Balch.
Beyond Washington, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Washington ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Michigan
- Kalamazoo County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Balch [Kalamazoo County].
- Lenawee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Balch [Lenawee County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Balch ...
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.
- Bordeaux ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
- Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
- Bunker
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Cedarville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
- Elk Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Grand Mound
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Mound
- Grand Mound is located in Thurston County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Mound <4>
- Greenwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Independence
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Independence is located in Thurston County
- Littlerock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littlerock
- Littlerock is located in Thurston County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Littlerock <4>
- Mays ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Michigan Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigan Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Hill
- Michigan Hill is located in Thurston County
How Far From Balch 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 Balch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Balch and extending to:
- Montesano, which is the Seat of Grays Harbor County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Balch to Montesano, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,365 miles [3,806.1 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,839 miles [11,006.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,600 miles [12,231 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,728 miles [9,218.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Balch. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Grays Harbor County: www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/
The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Balch 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Balch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Balch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.8145, Longitude: -123.2432 In this case, the coordinates for Balch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Balch to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.592 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.225 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.413 degrees. |