Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in National, we use the following websites to find information relevant to National and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for National
- 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 National:
- 46.756497, -122.055941
- 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 National
- 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 Pierce County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pierce County
- Since National is near Lewis County and also Thurston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lewis County
- eBird sighting report for Thurston 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 National ...
We found eleven communities that share the name National.
Within Washington, the name National is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Hot Spring 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 Arkansas community of National [Hot Spring County].
- Logan 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 Arkansas community of National [Logan County].
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Iron 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 National [Iron County].
- Marquette 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 National [Marquette County].
- Nevada
- Utah
- West Virginia
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near National ...
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.
- Clay City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Longmire
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longmire
- Longmire is located in Pierce County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Longmire <5>
- Mineral
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
- Mineral is located in Lewis County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mineral <5>
- New Reliance
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Reliance have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Reliance
- New Reliance is located in Pierce County
- Ohop
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Ohop Bob
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Paradise
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east) - Park Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Junction
- Park Junction is located in Pierce County
- Reliance
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Surprise Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Surprise Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surprise Valley
- Surprise Valley is located in Pierce County
How Far From National 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 National to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in National and extending to:
- Tacoma, which is the Seat of Pierce County, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from National to Tacoma, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 44 miles [70.8 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,310 miles [3,717.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,824 miles [10,982.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,587 miles [12,210.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,702 miles [9,176.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for National. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Pierce County: www.co.pierce.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 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 National 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' (or 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- National) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in National. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.7565, Longitude: -122.0559 In this case, the coordinates for National 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 National, 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 National to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.603 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.071 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.639 degrees. |