RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Riverside County >> Canyon Lake >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Canyon Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Canyon Lake 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 Canyon Lake:
    • 33.690071, -117.267521
    • 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 Canyon Lake
  • 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 Riverside County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Riverside County
    • Since Canyon Lake is near Orange County and also San Diego County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Diego 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 Canyon Lake

Communities Also Named Canyon Lake ...

We found one communities that are also named Canyon Lake.

Within California, the name Canyon Lake is unique.

Beyond California, there is another community also named Canyon Lake in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Texas
      • Comal County
      • This Canyon Lake is located in Comal County and lies 1,144 miles [1,841.1 km]<1> to the east of the Canyon Lake that is located in Riverside County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Comal County community of Canyon Lake.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Canyon Lake ...

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.

How Far From Canyon Lake 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 city such as Canyon Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Canyon Lake and extending to:

  • Riverside, which is the Seat of Riverside County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Canyon Lake to Riverside, with an average speed<3> 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 6 hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 411 miles [661.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 24 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,249 miles [3,619.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 88 days and walking would take 128 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,567 miles [12,177.9 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 8,335 miles [13,413.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,314 miles [10,161.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Canyon Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Canyon Lake 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 Canyon Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6901, Longitude: -117.2675    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 335.379 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.071 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.064 degrees.