Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Trees, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Trees and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Trees
- 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 Trees:
- 38.277278, -120.310034
- 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 Trees
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Calaveras County
- Since Big Trees is near Tuolumne County and also Amador County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tuolumne County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Big Trees ...
We found two communities that share the name Big Trees.
There is one other community in California which is also named Big Trees.
Beyond California, there is another community also named Big Trees in the United States.
- Communities Located In California ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Trees ...
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.
- Arnold
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Arnold is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnold <3>
- Big Trees Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Trees Village
- Big Trees Village is located in Calaveras County
- Boards Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boards Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boards Crossing
- Boards Crossing is located in Tuolumne County
- Grizzly Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grizzly Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grizzly Ridge
- Grizzly Ridge is located in Calaveras County
- Lilac Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lilac Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilac Park
- Lilac Park is located in Calaveras County
- Manuel Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manuel Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manuel Mill
- Manuel Mill is located in Calaveras County
- Mountain Retreat
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Retreat have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Retreat
- Mountain Retreat is located in Calaveras County
- Snowshoe Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snowshoe Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowshoe Springs
- Snowshoe Springs is located in Calaveras County
How Far From Big Trees 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 Big Trees to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Trees and extending to:
- San Andreas, which is the Seat of Calaveras County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Big Trees to San Andreas, 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 66 miles [106.2 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,313 miles [3,722.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,342 miles [11,815.8 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 8,110 miles [13,051.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,147 miles [9,892.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Trees. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Calaveras County: www.co.calaveras.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Trees 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. |
| <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 from Point A (ie- Big Trees) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Trees. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2773, Longitude: -120.3100 |
| <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 Trees 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 338.487 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.117 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.872 degrees. |