Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Hercules, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hercules and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Hercules
- 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 Hercules:
- 38.012308, -122.282784
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Hercules
- 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 Contra Costa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Contra Costa County
- Since Hercules is near Solano County and also Alameda County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Solano County
- eBird sighting report for Alameda 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Hercules ...
We found nine communities that share the name Hercules.
Within California, the name Hercules is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Hercules lies 1,146 miles [1,844.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Hercules that is located in Contra Costa County.
- Delaware
- Florida
- Missouri
- Jasper 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 Missouri community of Hercules [Jasper County].
- Taney County
- This Hercules is located in Taney County and lies 1,609 miles [2,589.4 km]<1> to the east of the Hercules that is located in Contra Costa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Taney County community of Hercules.
- Nevada
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hercules ...
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.
- Christie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Crockett
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett
- Crockett is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crockett <5>
- Giant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Glencove
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Nitro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Rodeo
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodeo
- Rodeo is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rodeo <5>
- Rollingwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rollingwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollingwood
- Rollingwood is located in Contra Costa County
- Triangle Court
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Triangle Court have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle Court
- Triangle Court is located in Contra Costa County
How Far From Hercules 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 Hercules to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hercules and extending to:
- Martinez, which is the Seat of Contra Costa County, lies just to the East.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 58 miles [93.3 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Hercules to Sacramento, with an average speed<6> 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 over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,421 miles [3,896.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,397 miles [11,904.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,163 miles [13,137.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,220 miles [10,010.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Hercules: www.ci.hercules.ca.us/
The official website for Contra Costa County: www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
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- Hercules) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hercules. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0123, Longitude: -122.2828 |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Hercules 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 Hercules, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Hercules to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.113 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 341.059 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.082 degrees. |