RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Cowlitz County >> Saint Helens >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Saint Helens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Saint Helens 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 Saint Helens:
    • 46.344275, -122.528720
    • 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 Saint Helens
  • 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 Cowlitz County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cowlitz County
    • Since Saint Helens is near Lewis County and also Skamania County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lewis County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Skamania 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 Saint Helens

Communities Also Named Saint Helens ...

We found three communities that are also named Saint Helens.

Within Washington, the name Saint Helens is unique.

Beyond Washington, we know of three communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Lee County
      • This Saint Helens is located in Lee County and lies 2,062 miles [3,318.5 km]<1> to the east of the Saint Helens that is located in Cowlitz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Saint Helens.
    • Ontario
      • This Saint Helens lies 1,983 miles [3,191.3 km]<1> to the east of the Saint Helens that is located in Cowlitz County.
    • Oregon
      • Columbia County
      • This Saint Helens is located in Columbia County and lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Saint Helens that is located in Cowlitz County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Saint Helens.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Saint Helens ...

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.

  • Alpha
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Alpha is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
  • Castle Rock
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Ethel
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Harmony
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Harmony is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Harmony Falls Landing
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Harmony Falls Landing is located in Skamania County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Falls Landing
  • Headquarters
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Headquarters is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Headquarters
  • Kid Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kid Valley is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kid Valley
  • Marys Corner
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Marys Corner is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marys Corner
  • Mossyrock
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Pleasant Hill
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Sandy Bend
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Sandy Bend is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bend
  • Silver Creek
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Silver Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

How Far From Saint Helens 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 Saint Helens to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Kelso, which is the Seat of Cowlitz County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Saint Helens to Kelso, with an average speed<3> 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 51 miles [82.1 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,334 miles [3,756.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,858 miles [11,036.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,621 miles [12,264.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,738 miles [9,234.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Saint Helens) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Saint Helens 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 Saint Helens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.3443, Longitude: -122.5287       In this case, the coordinates for Saint Helens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.973 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.482 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.975 degrees.