Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Christmas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Christmas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Christmas
- 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 Christmas:
- 33.062870, -110.741060
- 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 Christmas
- 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 Gila County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Gila County
- Since Christmas is near Pinal County and also Graham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pinal County
- eBird sighting report for Graham 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 Christmas ...
We found four communities that share the name Christmas.
Within Arizona, the name Christmas is unique.
Beyond Arizona, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Mississippi
Curious and Interesting Names Near Christmas ...
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.
- Claypool
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claypool
- Claypool is located in Gila County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Claypool <3>
- Copper Hill ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Hill
- Copper Hill is located in Gila County
- Cutter
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutter
- Cutter is located in Gila County
- Fordville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south) - Globe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
- Globe is located in Gila County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,382 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Globe <3>
- Inspiration
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inspiration have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inspiration
- Inspiration is located in Gila County
- Kelvin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west) - Lower Miami
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Miami have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Miami
- Lower Miami is located in Gila County
- Mammoth
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth
- Mammoth is located in Pinal County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,717 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mammoth <3>
- Oak Wells
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest) - Parsons Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parsons Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons Grove
- Parsons Grove is located in Pinal County
- Tiger ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south) - Top-of-the-World
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Top-of-the-World
- Top-of-the-World is located in Gila County
How Far From Christmas 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 Christmas 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 community of Christmas once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Christmas and extending to:
- Globe, which is the Seat of Gila County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Christmas to Globe, 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 most of a day.
- Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 81 miles [130.4 km] to the west northwest (WNW). 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 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,914 miles [3,080.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 75 days and walking would take 109 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,433 miles [11,962.3 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 8,196 miles [13,190.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,124 miles [9,855.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Gila County: www.co.gila.az.us/
The official website for State of Arizona: https://az.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Christmas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Christmas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0629, Longitude: -110.7411 In this case, the coordinates for Christmas have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Christmas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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 Christmas 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 330.056 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 328.566 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.465 degrees. |