RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Placer County >> Goggins >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Goggins, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Goggins 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 Goggins:
    • 39.042127, -120.509368
    • 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 Goggins
  • 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 Placer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Placer County
    • Since Goggins is near El Dorado County and also Nevada County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for El Dorado County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Nevada 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 Goggins

Communities Also Named Goggins ...

We found two communities that are also named Goggins.

Within California, the name Goggins is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Lamar County
      • This Goggins is located in Lamar County and lies 2,059 miles [3,313.6 km]<1> to the east of the Goggins that is located in Placer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lamar County community of Goggins.
      • Monroe 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 Georgia community of Goggins [Monroe County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Goggins ...

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.

  • Diamond Crossing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Diamond Crossing is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Crossing
  • Flat Ravine ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Flat Ravine is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Ravine
  • Gilberts
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilberts is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilberts
  • Greekstore
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Greekstore is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greekstore
  • Last Chance ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Last Chance is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
  • Michigan Bluff
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Michigan Bluff is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Bluff
  • Parsley Bar Crossing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Parsley Bar Crossing is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsley Bar Crossing
  • Red Point ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Point is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Point
  • Secret Canyon ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Secret Canyon is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Secret Canyon

How Far From Goggins 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 community such as Goggins to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Goggins once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Goggins and extending to:

  • Auburn, which is the Seat of Placer County, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Goggins to Auburn, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 61 miles [98.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,310 miles [3,717.6 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,297 miles [11,743.4 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 8,064 miles [12,977.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,108 miles [9,829.9 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Goggins) 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 Goggins 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>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Goggins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Goggins 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 Goggins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0421, Longitude: -120.5094       In this case, the coordinates for Goggins have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.733 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.455 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.985 degrees.