Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sonora, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sonora and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sonora
- 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 Sonora:
- 33.165338, -110.995947
- 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 Sonora
- 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 Pinal County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pinal County
- Since Sonora is near Gila County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Gila 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 Sonora ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Sonora.
There is one other community in Arizona which is also named Sonora.
Beyond Arizona, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, sixteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Arizona ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Harper County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sonora [Harper County].
- Lyon County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sonora [Lyon County].
- Nemaha County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sonora [Nemaha County].
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New York
- North Dakota
- Nova Scotia
- This Sonora lies 2,710 miles [4,361.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Sonora that is located in Pinal County.
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sonora ...
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.
- Christmas ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast) - Claypool
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claypool
- Claypool is located in Gila County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Claypool <5>
- Gold Camp
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest) - Inspiration
(18 miles [29 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
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Lower Miami
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- 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
- Price
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west) - Queen Valley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen Valley
- Queen Valley is located in Pinal County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Queen Valley <5>
- Silver King ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver King
- Silver King is located in Pinal County
- Smelter Town
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smelter Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smelter Town
- Smelter Town is located in Pinal County
- Superior
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior
- Superior is located in Pinal County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,232 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Superior <5>
- Top-of-the-World
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Top-of-the-World
- Top-of-the-World is located in Gila County
How Far From Sonora 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 Sonora 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 Sonora once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Sonora and extending to:
- Florence, which is the Seat of Pinal County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sonora to Florence, with an average speed<6> 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 most of a day.
- Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 65 miles [104.6 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,925 miles [3,098 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 76 days and walking would take 110 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,434 miles [11,963.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,197 miles [13,191.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,127 miles [9,860.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Pinal County: www.co.pinal.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 from Point A (ie- Sonora) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sonora. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1653, Longitude: -110.9959 In this case, the coordinates for Sonora 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 Sonora, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Sonora 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. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Sonora to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 330.271 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 328.834 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.599 degrees. |