RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Calaveras County >> Altaville >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Altaville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Altaville 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 Altaville:
    • 38.082474, -120.558755
    • 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 Altaville
  • 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 Calaveras County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calaveras County
    • Since Altaville is near Tuolumne County and also Amador County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuolumne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amador 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 Altaville

Curious and Interesting Names Near Altaville ...

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.

  • Angels Camp
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Angels City
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Angels City is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angels City
  • Big Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Valley is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Valley
  • Cave City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Cave City is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave City
  • Copper Cove Village
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Copper Cove Village is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Cove Village
  • Felix
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Felix is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Felix
  • Forest Meadows
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Forest Meadows is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Meadows
  • Fourth Crossing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fourth Crossing is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourth Crossing
  • Heavenly Hills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Heavenly Hills is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heavenly Hills
  • Indian Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Creek is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Lost City ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Martinez
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Martinez is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Parrotts Ferry
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Parrotts Ferry is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrotts Ferry
    • Peppermint Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Peppermint Creek is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peppermint Creek
    • Rawhide
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Rocky Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rocky Hill is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Hill
    • Sheep Ranch
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Squabbletown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Yankee Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Yankee Hill is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill

How Far From Altaville to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Altaville to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • San Andreas, which is the Seat of Calaveras County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Altaville to San Andreas, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 60 miles [96.6 km] to the northwest (NW). 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 2,330 miles [3,749.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 133 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,359 miles [11,843.2 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 8,127 miles [13,079.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,165 miles [9,921.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Altaville) 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 Altaville 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 Altaville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0825, Longitude: -120.5588    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.673 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.33 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.025 degrees.