Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in The Lakes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Lakes and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for The Lakes
- 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 The Lakes:
- 33.371158, -111.920143
- 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 The Lakes
- 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 Maricopa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Maricopa County
- Since The Lakes 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 The Lakes ...
We found eleven communities that share the name The Lakes.
Within Arizona, the name The Lakes is unique.
Beyond Arizona, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alaska
- This The Lakes lies 2,549 miles [4,102.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the The Lakes that is located in Maricopa County.
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- Bedford County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of The Lakes [Bedford County].
- Virginia Beach City
- This The Lakes is located in Virginia Beach City and lies 2,026 miles [3,260.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the The Lakes that is located in Maricopa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Virginia Beach City community of The Lakes.
- Washington
- Alaska
Curious and Interesting Names Near The Lakes ...
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.
- Cloverleaf
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverleaf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverleaf
- Cloverleaf is located in Maricopa County
- Dusk File
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Guadalupe
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
- Guadalupe is located in Maricopa County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,698 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guadalupe <4>
- Heatherbrook
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heatherbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heatherbrook
- Heatherbrook is located in Maricopa County
- Helena
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Hightown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Mission Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Valley
- Mission Valley is located in Maricopa County
- New Horizons
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Horizons have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Horizons
- New Horizons is located in Maricopa County
- Normal Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Normal Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normal Junction
- Normal Junction is located in Maricopa County
- Orangetree
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orangetree have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orangetree
- Orangetree is located in Maricopa County
- Pepperwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pepperwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pepperwood
- Pepperwood is located in Maricopa County
- Quail Place
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quail Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Place
- Quail Place is located in Maricopa County
- Raintree
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
How Far From The Lakes 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 The Lakes to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in The Lakes and extending to:
- Phoenix, which is the Seat of Maricopa County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from The Lakes to Phoenix, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 10 miles [16.1 km] to the west northwest (WNW). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,970 miles [3,170.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take three full days, a buggy would take 77 days and walking would take 112 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,448 miles [11,986.4 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 8,212 miles [13,215.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,149 miles [9,895.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for The Lakes. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Maricopa County: www.maricopa.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- The Lakes) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in The Lakes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3712, Longitude: -111.9201 In this case, the coordinates for The Lakes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 The Lakes 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. |
| <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 The Lakes 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 331.026 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 329.765 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 322.092 degrees. |