Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Giant, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Giant and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Giant
- 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 Giant:
- 37.990478, -122.357193
- 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 Giant
- 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 Contra Costa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Contra Costa County
- Since Giant is near Marin County and also Alameda County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marin County
- eBird sighting report for Alameda 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 Giant ...
We found one communities that share the name Giant.
Within California, the name Giant is unique.
Beyond California, there is another community also named Giant in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Giant ...
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.
- Christie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Crockett
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett
- Crockett is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crockett <3>
- Glencove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Golf ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Hercules
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hercules
- Hercules is located in Contra Costa County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,221 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hercules <3>
- Little Reed Heights
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Reed Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Reed Heights
- Little Reed Heights is located in Marin County
- Meadowsweet
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowsweet have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowsweet
- Meadowsweet is located in Marin County
- Nitro
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Paradise Cay
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Cay
- Paradise Cay is located in Marin County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Reed
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Rodeo
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodeo
- Rodeo is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rodeo <3>
- Rollingwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rollingwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollingwood
- Rollingwood is located in Contra Costa County
- Thousand Oaks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thousand Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thousand Oaks
- Thousand Oaks is located in Alameda County
- Triangle Court
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Triangle Court have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle Court
- Triangle Court is located in Contra Costa County
- University Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
- University Village is located in Alameda County
- Reed
How Far From Giant 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 Giant to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Giant and extending to:
- Martinez, which is the Seat of Contra Costa County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Giant to Martinez, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 62 miles [99.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,426 miles [3,904.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,400 miles [11,909.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,166 miles [13,141.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,223 miles [10,014.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Giant. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Contra Costa County: www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
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- Giant) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Giant. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9905, Longitude: -122.3572 In this case, the coordinates for Giant have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Giant to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.174 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 341.131 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.128 degrees. |