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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Jupiter, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Jupiter 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 Jupiter:
    • 38.122421, -120.282692
    • 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 Jupiter
  • 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 Tuolumne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuolumne County
    • Since Jupiter is near Calaveras County and also Amador County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calaveras County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amador 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 Jupiter

Communities Also Named Jupiter ...

We found three communities that are also named Jupiter.

Within California, the name Jupiter is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Palm Beach County
      • This Jupiter is located in Palm Beach County and lies 2,442 miles [3,930 km]<1> to the east of the Jupiter that is located in Tuolumne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Palm Beach County community of Jupiter.
    • Mississippi
      • Simpson 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 Mississippi community of Jupiter [Simpson County].
    • North Carolina
      • Buncombe County
      • This Jupiter is located in Buncombe County and lies 2,072 miles [3,334.6 km]<1> to the east of the Jupiter that is located in Tuolumne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buncombe County community of Jupiter.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Jupiter ...

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.

  • Big Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Big Valley is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Valley
  • Cedar Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Ridge is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Ridge
  • Cedar Rock Lodge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Rock Lodge is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rock Lodge
  • Confidence
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Confidence is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confidence
  • Crystal Falls
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Crystal Falls is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Falls
  • Forest Meadows
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Forest Meadows is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Meadows
  • Indian Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Hills is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Red Apple
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Apple is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Apple
  • Scenic Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Scenic Heights is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Heights
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Sugarpine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sugarpine is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarpine
    • Sunset Point
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset Point is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Point
    • Tall Timber Camp
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Tall Timber Camp is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Timber Camp
    • Twain Harte
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Twain Harte Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Twain Harte Valley is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twain Harte Valley
    • Yankee Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Yankee Hill is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill

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

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

  • Sonora, which is the Seat of Tuolumne County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Jupiter to Sonora, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,315 miles [3,725.6 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 7,351 miles [11,830.3 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 8,119 miles [13,066.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,155 miles [9,905.5 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Jupiter) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Jupiter 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 Jupiter 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 Jupiter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1224, Longitude: -120.2827       In this case, the coordinates for Jupiter have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.447 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.061 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.857 degrees.