RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> San Bernardino County >> Fontana >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Fontana:
    • 34.106654, -117.436162
    • 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 Fontana
  • 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 San Bernardino County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Bernardino County
    • Since Fontana is near Riverside County and also Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles 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 Fontana

Communities Also Named Fontana ...

We found four communities that are also named Fontana.

Within California, the name Fontana is unique.

Beyond California, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Miami County
      • This Fontana is located in Miami County and lies 1,289 miles [2,074.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Fontana that is located in San Bernardino County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miami County community of Fontana.
    • Kentucky
      • Carter County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Fontana [Carter County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lebanon County
      • This Fontana is located in Lebanon County and lies 2,271 miles [3,654.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Fontana that is located in San Bernardino County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lebanon County community of Fontana.
    • Wisconsin
      • Walworth County
      • This Fontana is located in Walworth County and lies 1,658 miles [2,668.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Fontana that is located in San Bernardino County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walworth County community of Fontana.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fontana ...

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.

  • Arrowhead
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Arrowhead is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
  • Belltown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Belltown is located in Riverside County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belltown
  • Champagne
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Champagne is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champagne
  • Cottage Gardens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Cottage Gardens is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Gardens
  • Devil Canyon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Devil Canyon is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devil Canyon
  • Garden Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Garden Park is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Park
  • Grand Terrace
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Grapeland ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Grapeland is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapeland
  • Highgrove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Highgrove is located in Riverside County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highgrove
  • Kaiser
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Kaiser is located in San Bernardino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaiser
  • Riverside Junction
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Riverside Junction is located in Riverside County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Junction
  • Sunnyslope
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Sunnyslope is located in Riverside County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyslope
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • University Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • University Heights is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
    • Valley Gardens
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Valley Gardens is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Gardens
    • Walnut Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Walnut Ridge is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Ridge
    • Warm Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Warm Springs is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warm Springs

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

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

  • San Bernardino, which is the Seat of San Bernardino County, lies just to the East.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 382 miles [614.8 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Fontana to Sacramento, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 22 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 15 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,248 miles [3,617.8 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,545 miles [12,142.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,313 miles [13,378.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,296 miles [10,132.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fontana) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Fontana 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>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.
<5>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 Fontana 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 Fontana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1067, Longitude: -117.4362    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 335.579 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.343 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.166 degrees.