Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alpha, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alpha and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alpha
- 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 Alpha:
- 39.330454, -120.782440
- 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 Alpha
- 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 Nevada County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Nevada County
- Since Alpha is near Shasta County and also Placer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Shasta County
- eBird sighting report for Placer 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 Alpha ...
We found 33 communities that share the name Alpha.
Within California, the name Alpha is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another 33 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 33 communities, 32 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Boise 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 Idaho community of Alpha [Boise County].
- Valley County
- This Alpha is located in Valley County and lies 426 miles [685.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Alpha that is located in Nevada County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Valley County community of Alpha.
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Finney 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 Kansas community of Alpha [Finney County].
- McPherson 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 Alpha [McPherson County].
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Manitoba
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Benzie 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 Michigan community of Alpha [Benzie County].
- Iron County
- This Alpha is located in Iron County and lies 1,695 miles [2,727.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alpha that is located in Nevada County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iron County community of Alpha.
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Grundy County
- This Alpha is located in Grundy County and lies 1,449 miles [2,331.9 km]<1> to the east of the Alpha that is located in Nevada County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grundy County community of Alpha.
- Saint Louis 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 Missouri community of Alpha [Saint Louis County].
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Washington
- Lewis County
- This Alpha is located in Lewis County and lies 511 miles [822.4 km]<1> to the north of the Alpha that is located in Nevada County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis County community of Alpha.
- Spokane County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Alpha [Spokane County].
- West Virginia
- Doddridge 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 West Virginia community of Alpha [Doddridge County].
- Harrison 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 West Virginia community of Alpha [Harrison County].
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alpha ...
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.
- Bear Valley ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
- Bear Valley is located in Nevada County
- Democrat ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Drum ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Eagle Bird ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Bird have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Bird
- Eagle Bird is located in Nevada County
- Emigrant Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emigrant Gap
- Emigrant Gap is located in Placer County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emigrant Gap <5>
- Forebay
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Graniteville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
- Graniteville is located in Nevada County
- Junction House
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction House have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction House
- Junction House is located in Nevada County
- Midas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Relief
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Snow Point ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snow Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Point
- Snow Point is located in Nevada County
- Snow Tent ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Alpha 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 Alpha 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 Alpha once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Alpha and extending to:
- Nevada City, which is the Seat of Nevada County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alpha to Nevada City, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 64 miles [103 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 2,320 miles [3,733.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,283 miles [11,720.9 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 8,051 miles [12,956.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,100 miles [9,817 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Nevada County: www.new.mynevadacounty.com/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alpha) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alpha. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3305, Longitude: -120.7824 In this case, the coordinates for Alpha 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 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 Alpha 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 Alpha, 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'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 Alpha 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 338.989 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.778 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.148 degrees. |