Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alta and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alta
- 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 Alta:
- 39.207002, -120.811148
- 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 Alta
- 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 Placer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Placer County
- Since Alta is near Nevada County and also Shasta County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nevada County
- eBird sighting report for Shasta 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 Alta ...
We found 21 communities that share the name Alta.
There is one other community in California which is also named Alta.
Beyond California, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In California ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Harvey County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Alta [Harvey County].
- Jewell 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 Kansas community of Alta [Jewell County].
- Johnson 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 Kansas community of Alta [Johnson County].
- Kentucky
- Montana
- Jefferson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Alta [Jefferson County].
- Ravalli County
- This Alta is located in Ravalli County and lies 552 miles [888.4 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Alta that is located in Placer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ravalli County community of Alta.
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Highland County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Alta [Highland County].
- Richland County
- This Alta is located in Richland County and lies 2,010 miles [3,234.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Alta that is located in Placer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Alta.
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Salt Lake County
- This Alta is located in Salt Lake County and lies 494 miles [795 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Alta that is located in Placer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Alta.
- Wasatch County
- This community is historic<1> and although located in Wasatch County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wasatch County community of Alta.
- West Virginia
- Fayette County
- This Alta is located in Fayette County and lies 2,119 miles [3,410.2 km]<2> to the east of the Alta that is located in Placer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Alta.
- Greenbrier County
- This Alta is located in Greenbrier County and lies 2,158 miles [3,473 km] to the east of the Alta that is located in Placer County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenbrier County community of Alta.
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alta ...
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.
- Democrat ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Drum ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Dutch Flat
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Flat
- Dutch Flat is located in Placer County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dutch Flat <5>
- Forebay
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Gold Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Run
- Gold Run is located in Placer County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gold Run <5>
- Hunts Hill ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunts Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Hill
- Hunts Hill is located in Nevada County
- Little York ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little York have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little York
- Little York is located in Nevada County
- Midas
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Rawhide
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Red Dog
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Secret Town
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Secret Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Secret Town
- Secret Town is located in Placer County
- Steeplehollow Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steeplehollow Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steeplehollow Crossing
- Steeplehollow Crossing is located in Nevada County
- You Bet ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
How Far From Alta to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Alta to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alta and extending to:
- Auburn, which is the Seat of Placer County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alta to Auburn, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 56 miles [90.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,323 miles [3,738.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 7,292 miles [11,735.3 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 8,059 miles [12,969.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,108 miles [9,829.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alta. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Placer County: www.placer.ca.gov/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Alta, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2070, Longitude: -120.8111 |
| <3> | 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 Alta 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. |
| <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 Alta 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 339.001 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.785 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.168 degrees. |