Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alfa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alfa and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alfa
- 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 Alfa:
- 41.100957, -121.493347
- 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 Alfa
- 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 Shasta County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Shasta County
- Since Alfa is near Siskiyou County and also Modoc County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Siskiyou County
- eBird sighting report for Modoc 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 Alfa ...
We found one communities that share the name Alfa.
Within California, the name Alfa is unique.
Beyond California, there is another community also named Alfa in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alfa ...
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.
- Bieber
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bieber
- Bieber is located in Lassen County
- Dana
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
- Dana is located in Shasta County
- Day
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Dixie
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast) - Fall River Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River Mills
- Fall River Mills is located in Shasta County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fall River Mills <3>
- Four Corners
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
- Four Corners is located in Shasta County
- Glenburn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenburn
- Glenburn is located in Shasta County
- Former names for Glenburn:
- Burgettville
- Swasey
- Hambone ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest) - Hat Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hat Creek
- Hat Creek is located in Shasta County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hat Creek <3>
- Lookout
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lookout
- Lookout is located in Modoc County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lookout <3>
- Lookout Junction
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lookout Junction
- Lookout Junction is located in Modoc County
- Slagger ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest) - White Horse
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Horse have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Horse
- White Horse is located in Modoc County
How Far From Alfa 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 Alfa to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Alfa once stood, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Alfa and extending to:
- Redding, which is the Seat of Shasta County, lies 58 miles [93.3 km]<5> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alfa to Redding, with an average speed<6> 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 over two days.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 174 miles [280 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,330 miles [3,749.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 133 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,182 miles [11,558.3 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 7,948 miles [12,791.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,017 miles [9,683.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Shasta County: www.co.shasta.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.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 Alfa 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> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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 Alfa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alfa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alfa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1010, Longitude: -121.4933 |
| <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 Alfa 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 339.747 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.774 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.552 degrees. |