Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Safford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Safford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Safford
- 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 Safford:
- 32.824103, -109.716218
- 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 Safford
- 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 Graham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Graham County
- Since Safford is near Greenlee County and also Cochise County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Greenlee County
- eBird sighting report for Cochise 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 Safford ...
We found four communities that share the name Safford.
Within Arizona, the name Safford is unique.
Beyond Arizona, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Nevada
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Safford ...
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.
- Cactus Flat
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cactus Flat
- Cactus Flat is located in Graham County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Cactus Flat
- From Safford to Cactus Flat
- Central
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Central is located in Graham County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Central
- From Safford to Central
- Cork
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Dublin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Eden
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Graham
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Graham is located in Graham County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Graham
- From Safford to Graham
- Gripe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Lone Star
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Swift Trail Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Trail Junction
- Swift Trail Junction is located in Graham County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Swift Trail Junction
- From Safford to Swift Trail Junction
- Turkey Flat
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Flat have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Flat
- Turkey Flat is located in Graham County
How Far From Safford 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 city such as Safford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Safford and extending to:
- Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 142 miles [228.5 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Safford to Phoenix, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,865 miles [3,001.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 73 days and walking would take 106 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,417 miles [11,936.5 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 8,178 miles [13,161.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,099 miles [9,815.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Safford: www.ci.safford.az.us/
The official website for Graham County: www.graham.az.gov/
The official website for State of Arizona: https://az.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Safford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Safford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8241, Longitude: -109.7162 |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Safford 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> | 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 Safford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Safford 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 329.226 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.542 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.929 degrees. |