RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Marin County >> Fort McDowell >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fort McDowell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fort McDowell 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 Fort McDowell:
    • 37.862705, -122.422750
    • 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 Fort McDowell
  • 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 Marin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marin County
    • Since Fort McDowell is near San Francisco County and also Contra Costa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Francisco County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Contra Costa 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 Fort McDowell

Communities Also Named Fort McDowell ...

We found one communities that are also named Fort McDowell.

Within California, the name Fort McDowell is unique.

Beyond California, there is another community also named Fort McDowell in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Maricopa County
      • This Fort McDowell is located in Maricopa County and lies 668 miles [1,075 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Fort McDowell that is located in Marin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of Fort McDowell.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fort McDowell ...

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.

  • Chinatown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Chinatown is located in San Francisco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
  • Friendship Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Friendship Village is located in San Francisco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Village
  • Harbor Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Harbor Point is located in Marin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Point
  • Homestead Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Homestead Valley is located in Marin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead Valley
  • Little Italy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Little Italy is located in San Francisco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
  • Little Osaka
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Little Osaka is located in San Francisco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Osaka
  • Little Reed Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Little Reed Heights is located in Marin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Reed Heights
  • Marcus Garvey Square
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Marcus Garvey Square is located in San Francisco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus Garvey Square
  • Meadowsweet
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Meadowsweet is located in Marin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowsweet
  • Opera Plaza
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Opera Plaza is located in San Francisco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opera Plaza
  • Paradise Cay
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Paradise Cay is located in Marin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Cay
  • Reed
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Reed is located in Marin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Strawberry
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Strawberry is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
    • Triangle Court
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Triangle Court is located in Contra Costa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle Court
    • University Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • University Village is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
    • Waldo
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Waldo is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldo

How Far From Fort McDowell 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 Fort McDowell to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • San Rafael, which is the Seat of Marin County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Fort McDowell to San Rafael, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 71 miles [114.3 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,431 miles [3,912.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 139 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,409 miles [11,923.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,176 miles [13,158 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,233 miles [10,031 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fort McDowell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Fort McDowell 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 Fort McDowell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8627, Longitude: -122.4227       In this case, the coordinates for Fort McDowell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.216 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 341.175 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.168 degrees.