Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Desert Shores, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Desert Shores and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Desert Shores

• 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 Desert Shores:
  • 33.404200, -116.039724
  • 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 Desert Shores

• 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 Imperial County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Imperial County
  • Since Desert Shores is near Riverside County and also San Diego County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Riverside 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 Desert Shores

Curious and Interesting Names Near Desert Shores ...

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.

• Bombay Beach
  (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Bombay Beach is located in Imperial County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bombay Beach
• Desert Beach
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Desert Beach is located in Riverside County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desert Beach
• Desert Camp
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Desert Camp is located in Riverside County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desert Camp
• Martinez
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Martinez is located in Riverside County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez
• Oasis
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Oasis is located in Riverside County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
• Pope ‑ Historic
  (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Pope is located in Imperial County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope
• Sandy Korner
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Sandy Korner is located in Riverside County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Korner
• Squeaky Springs ‑ Historic
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Squeaky Springs is located in Imperial County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squeaky Springs
• Thermal
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Thermal is located in Riverside County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thermal
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thermal <1>
• Truckhaven
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Truckhaven is located in Imperial County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truckhaven
• Valerie
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Valerie is located in Riverside County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valerie

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

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

• El Centro, which is the Seat of Imperial County, lies 50 miles [80.5 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Desert Shores to El Centro, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
• Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 469 miles [754.8 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,190 miles [3,524.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 86 days and walking would take 125 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,555 miles [12,158.6 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 8,323 miles [13,394.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,289 miles [10,121.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'