RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arizona >> Gila County >> Government Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Government Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Government Hill and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Government Hill:
    • 33.674493, -111.150123
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Government Hill
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gila County
    • Since Government Hill is near Maricopa County and also Pinal County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Maricopa County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Government Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Government Hill ...

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.

  • Dagger
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Dagger is located in Gila County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dagger
  • Fish Creek ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Fish Creek is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Creek
  • Grapevine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Grapevine is located in Gila County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapevine
  • Horse Mesa
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Horse Mesa is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Mesa
  • Punkin Center
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Punkin Center is located in Gila County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Punkin Center
  • Tonto Basin
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Tortilla Flat
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Willow
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Willow is located in Gila County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow

How Far From Government Hill 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 Government Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Government Hill and extending to:

  • Globe, which is the Seat of Gila County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Government Hill to Globe, with an average speed<3> 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 just over a day.
  • Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 55 miles [88.5 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 1,921 miles [3,091.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 75 days and walking would take 110 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,408 miles [11,922 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,172 miles [13,151.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,105 miles [9,825 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Government Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Government Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Government Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6745, Longitude: -111.1501       In this case, the coordinates for Government Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 330.47 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 329.122 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.674 degrees.