Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ballard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ballard and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ballard
- 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 Ballard:
- 47.675931, -122.387351
- 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 Ballard
- 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 King County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for King County
- Since Ballard is near Kitsap County and also Snohomish County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kitsap County
- eBird sighting report for Snohomish 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 Ballard ...
We found eighteen communities that share the name Ballard.
Within Washington, the name Ballard is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Anderson County
- This Ballard is located in Anderson County and lies 1,987 miles [3,197.8 km]<2> to the east of the Ballard that is located in King County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of Ballard.
- Menifee County
- This Ballard is located in Menifee County and lies 2,047 miles [3,294.3 km] to the east of the Ballard that is located in King County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menifee County community of Ballard.
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Utah
- Salt Lake County
- This Ballard is located in Salt Lake County and lies 711 miles [1,144.2 km]<2> to the southeast of the Ballard that is located in King County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Ballard.
- Uintah County
- This Ballard is located in Uintah County and lies 799 miles [1,285.9 km] to the southeast of the Ballard that is located in King County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Uintah County community of Ballard.
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ballard ...
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.
- Crown Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown Hill
- Crown Hill is located in King County
- Edgewater ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Green Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lake
- Green Lake is located in King County
- Greenwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Loyal Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loyal Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyal Heights
- Loyal Heights is located in King County
- Mapleleaf
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Meridian
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Portage Bay
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portage Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage Bay
- Portage Bay is located in King County
- Queen Anne
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Queen Anne have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen Anne
- Queen Anne is located in King County
- Sunset Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Hill
- Sunset Hill is located in King County
- University
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University
- University is located in King County
How Far From Ballard 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 Ballard to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ballard and extending to:
- Seattle, which is the Seat of King County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 50 miles [80.5 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Ballard to Olympia, with an average speed<5> 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 most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,322 miles [3,736.9 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 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,769 miles [10,893.6 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 7,531 miles [12,120 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,657 miles [9,104.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ballard. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for King County: www.metrokc.gov/
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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Ballard 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 '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- Ballard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ballard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6759, Longitude: -122.3874 In this case, the coordinates for Ballard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Ballard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Ballard 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 340.922 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.489 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.79 degrees. |