Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Palmdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Palmdale and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Palmdale
- 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 Palmdale:
- 34.579527, -118.117477
- 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 Palmdale
- 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 Los Angeles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Los Angeles County
- Since Palmdale is near Kern County and also San Bernardino County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kern County
- eBird sighting report for San Bernardino 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 Palmdale ...
We found four communities that share the name Palmdale.
There is one other community in California which is also named Palmdale.
Beyond California, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In California ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Minnesota
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Palmdale ...
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.
- Alpine ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Antelope Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Antelope Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope Center
- Antelope Center is located in Los Angeles County
- Boiling Point
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boiling Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Point
- Boiling Point is located in Los Angeles County
- Four Points
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Points have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Points
- Four Points is located in Los Angeles County
- Harold
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Lakeview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Littlerock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littlerock
- Littlerock is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Littlerock <4>
- Mission
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Paris
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
- Paris is located in Los Angeles County
- Pearland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Quartz Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quartz Hill
- Quartz Hill is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Quartz Hill <4>
- Sunrise
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
How Far From Palmdale 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 city such as Palmdale to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Palmdale and extending to:
- Los Angeles, which is the Seat of Los Angeles County, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Palmdale to Los Angeles, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 333 miles [535.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,273 miles [3,658 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 89 days and walking would take 130 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,531 miles [12,120 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,300 miles [13,357.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,291 miles [10,124.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Palmdale: www.cityofpalmdale.org/
The official website for Los Angeles County: www.lacounty.info/
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 Palmdale 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Palmdale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Palmdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.5795, Longitude: -118.1175 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Palmdale to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.209 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.141 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.565 degrees. |