RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> El Dorado County >> Bar J Ranch >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bar J Ranch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bar J Ranch 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 Bar J Ranch:
    • 38.661848, -121.010776
    • 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 Bar J Ranch
  • 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 El Dorado County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for El Dorado County
    • Since Bar J Ranch is near Sacramento County and also Placer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sacramento County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Bar J Ranch

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bar J Ranch ...

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.

  • Clarksville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Clarksville is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
  • Crescent Ridge Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Crown Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Crown Village is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown Village
  • El Dorado Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Green Springs Ranch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Springs Ranch is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Springs Ranch
  • Green Springs Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Springs Valley is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Springs Valley
  • Marble Mountain
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Marble Mountain is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Mountain
  • Mormon Tavern ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Mormon Tavern is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mormon Tavern
  • Oak Tree Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Tree Village is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Tree Village
  • Shingle Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Skinners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Skinners is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skinners
  • Sprekelsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sprekelsville is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sprekelsville
  • Stonegate Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Stonegate Village is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate Village

How Far From Bar J Ranch 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 Bar J Ranch to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Placerville, which is the Seat of El Dorado County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bar J Ranch to Placerville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 26 miles [41.8 km] to the west southwest (WSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,343 miles [3,770.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 134 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,331 miles [11,798.1 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 8,098 miles [13,032.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,145 miles [9,889.4 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Bar J Ranch) 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 Bar J Ranch 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 Bar J Ranch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6618, Longitude: -121.0108       In this case, the coordinates for Bar J Ranch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.112 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.889 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.297 degrees.