Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Catalina, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Catalina and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Catalina
- 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 Catalina:
- 32.500704, -110.917116
- 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 Catalina
- 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 Pima County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pima County
- Since Catalina is near Pinal County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Pinal 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 Catalina ...
We found three communities that share the name Catalina.
Within Arizona, the name Catalina is unique.
Beyond Arizona, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- This Catalina lies 3,147 miles [5,064.6 km]<2> to the northeast of the Catalina that is located in Pima County.
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Catalina ...
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.
- Amphitheater
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amphitheater have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amphitheater
- Amphitheater is located in Pima County
- Flowing Wells
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flowing Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowing Wells
- Flowing Wells is located in Pima County
- Highjinks
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Jaynes
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest) - Kino
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Mount Lemmon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Lemmon
- Mount Lemmon is located in Pima County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Lemmon <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Mount Lemmon
- From Catalina to Mount Lemmon
- Soldier Camp
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Soldier Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldier Camp
- Soldier Camp is located in Pima County
- Summerhaven
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerhaven
- Summerhaven is located in Pima County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Summerhaven
- From Catalina to Summerhaven
- Willow Canyon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Canyon
- Willow Canyon is located in Pima County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Willow Canyon
- From Catalina to Willow Canyon
How Far From Catalina 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 community such as Catalina to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Catalina and extending to:
- Tucson, which is the Seat of Pima County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Catalina to Tucson, with an average speed<5> 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 6 hours.
- Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 93 miles [149.7 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,938 miles [3,118.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 76 days and walking would take 111 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,471 miles [12,023.4 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 8,234 miles [13,251.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,160 miles [9,913.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Catalina. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Pima County: www.co.pima.az.us/
The official website for State of Arizona: https://az.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 Catalina 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Catalina) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Catalina. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.5007, Longitude: -110.9171 |
| <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 Catalina 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 330.102 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 328.569 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.565 degrees. |