RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Monterey County >> King City >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in King City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to King City 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 King City:
    • 36.211512, -121.129048
    • 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 King City
  • 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 Monterey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monterey County
    • Since King City is near San Benito County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Benito 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 King City

Communities Also Named King City ...

We found six communities that are also named King City.

Within California, the name King City is unique.

Beyond California, we know of six communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, five are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Glynn County
      • This King City is located in Glynn County and lies 2,293 miles [3,690.2 km]<1> to the east of the King City that is located in Monterey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Glynn County community of King City.
    • Kansas
      • McPherson 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 Kansas community of King City [McPherson County].
    • Missouri
      • Gentry County
      • This King City is located in Gentry County and lies 1,463 miles [2,354.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the King City that is located in Monterey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gentry County community of King City.
    • Ontario
      • This King City lies 2,236 miles [3,598.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the King City that is located in Monterey County.
    • Oregon
      • Washington County
      • This King City is located in Washington County and lies 640 miles [1,030 km]<1> to the north of the King City that is located in Monterey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of King City.
    • Texas
      • Liberty 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 Texas community of King City [Liberty County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near King City ...

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.

  • Bitterwater
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Dean
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Dean is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
  • Gorda
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenfield
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Harlem
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Harlem is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlem
  • Jamesburg
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jamesburg is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesburg
  • Pinnacles
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Slates Hot Springs
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Slates Hot Springs is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slates Hot Springs
  • Sycamore Flat
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Sycamore Flat is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Flat

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

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

  • Salinas, which is the Seat of Monterey County, lies 43 miles [69.2 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from King City to Salinas, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 164 miles [263.9 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,397 miles [3,857.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 137 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,491 miles [12,055.6 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 8,259 miles [13,291.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,291 miles [10,124.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- King City) 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 King City 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 King City 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 King City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2115, Longitude: -121.1290    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.938 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.548 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.368 degrees.