Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Beltaine, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Beltaine and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Beltaine
- 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 Beltaine:
- 38.387968, -122.522760
- 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 Beltaine
- 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 Sonoma County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Sonoma County
- Since Beltaine is near Napa County and also Marin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Napa County
- eBird sighting report for Marin 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Beltaine ...
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.
- Deer Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
- Deer Park is located in Napa County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Park <1>
- Enchanted Hills
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enchanted Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Hills
- Enchanted Hills is located in Napa County
- Four Corners
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
- Four Corners is located in Sonoma County
- Glen Ellen
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Ellen
- Glen Ellen is located in Sonoma County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glen Ellen <1>
- Lawndale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Mission Highlands
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Highlands have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Highlands
- Mission Highlands is located in Sonoma County
- Vineburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineburg
- Vineburg is located in Sonoma County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vineburg <1>
- Wildwood ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Zinfandel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Beltaine 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 community such as Beltaine 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<3> community of Beltaine once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Beltaine and extending to:
- Santa Rosa, which is the Seat of Sonoma County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<4> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Beltaine to Santa Rosa, with an average speed<5> 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 57 miles [91.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,427 miles [3,905.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,377 miles [11,872.1 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 8,143 miles [13,104.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,205 miles [9,986 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Sonoma County: www.sonoma-county.org/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
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> | 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. |
| <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 Beltaine, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Beltaine) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Beltaine. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3880, Longitude: -122.5228 In this case, the coordinates for Beltaine have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Beltaine 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 340.355 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 341.367 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.23 degrees. |