RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Santa Clara County >> Berryessa >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Berryessa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Berryessa 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 Berryessa:
    • 37.386329, -121.860510
    • 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 Berryessa
  • 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 Santa Clara County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Clara County
    • Since Berryessa is near Alameda County and also Santa Cruz County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alameda County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Cruz 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 Berryessa

Communities Also Named Berryessa ...

We found one communities that are also named Berryessa.

There is one other community in California that is also named Berryessa.

Beyond California.

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Napa County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Napa County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Napa County community of Berryessa.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Berryessa ...

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.

  • Alum Rock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Alum Rock is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alum Rock
  • Chinatown ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chinatown is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
  • College Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • College Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Drawbridge ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Drawbridge is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawbridge
    • Former name for Drawbridge:
    • Saline City
  • Edenvale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Edenvale is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edenvale
  • Evergreen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Evergreen is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Fruitdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fruitdale is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitdale
  • Lick
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Lick is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick
  • Meridian
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Meridian is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
  • Robertsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Robertsville is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsville
  • Seven Trees
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Seven Trees is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Trees
  • Willow Glen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Willow Glen is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Glen

How Far From Berryessa 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 Berryessa to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • San Jose, which is the Seat of Santa Clara County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<2> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Berryessa to Sacramento, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,411 miles [3,880.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 137 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,430 miles [11,957.4 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 8,197 miles [13,191.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,244 miles [10,048.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Berryessa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Berryessa) 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 Berryessa 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 Berryessa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3863, Longitude: -121.8605       In this case, the coordinates for Berryessa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.69 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.518 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.821 degrees.