Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Tree, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Tree and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Tree
- 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 Big Tree:
- 37.509937, -119.602096
- 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 Big Tree
- 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 Mariposa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mariposa County
- Since Big Tree is near Madera County and also Tuolumne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Madera County
- eBird sighting report for Tuolumne 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 Big Tree ...
We found two communities that share the name Big Tree.
Within California, the name Big Tree is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- New York
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Tree ...
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.
- Bass Lake
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bass Lake
- Bass Lake is located in Madera County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bass Lake <3>
- Bootjack
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootjack
- Bootjack is located in Mariposa County
- Central Camp
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Central Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Camp
- Central Camp is located in Madera County
- Curry Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Curry Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry Village
- Curry Village is located in Mariposa County
- Elliott Corner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elliott Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott Corner
- Elliott Corner is located in Mariposa County
- Fish Camp
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Camp
- Fish Camp is located in Mariposa County
- Former name for Fish Camp:
- Summerdale
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fish Camp <3>
- Grub Gulch ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grub Gulch have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grub Gulch
- Grub Gulch is located in Madera County
- Sugar Pine
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Pine have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Pine
- Sugar Pine is located in Madera County
- Yosemite Forks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Forks
- Yosemite Forks is located in Madera County
- Yosemite Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Valley
- Yosemite Valley is located in Mariposa County
- Yosemite Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Village
- Yosemite Village is located in Mariposa County
How Far From Big Tree 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 Big Tree to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Tree and extending to:
- Mariposa, which is the Seat of Mariposa County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Big Tree to Mariposa, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 126 miles [202.8 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,290 miles [3,685.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 131 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 8,145 miles [13,108.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,170 miles [9,929.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Tree. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Mariposa County: www.mariposacounty.org/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Big Tree) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Tree. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5099, Longitude: -119.6021 In this case, the coordinates for Big Tree 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Big Tree 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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 Big Tree 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 337.812 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.263 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.45 degrees. |