Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in La Branza, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Branza and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for La Branza
- 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 La Branza:
- 37.174666, -120.317679
- 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 La Branza
- 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 Merced County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Merced County
- Since La Branza is near Madera County and also Mariposa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Madera County
- eBird sighting report for Mariposa 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near La Branza ...
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.
- Ash ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Bonita
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast) - Castle Gardens
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Gardens
- Castle Gardens is located in Merced County
- Chowchilla
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chowchilla
- Chowchilla is located in Madera County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,153 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chowchilla <2>
- Cuba ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest) - Dairyland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Indian Gulch ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Gulch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Gulch
- Indian Gulch is located in Mariposa County
- Lincoln ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Plains ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Plainsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsburg
- Plainsburg is located in Merced County
How Far From La Branza 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 La Branza 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 La Branza once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in La Branza and extending to:
- Merced, which is the Seat of Merced County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from La Branza to Merced, with an average speed<5> 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 116 miles [186.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,334 miles [3,756.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,413 miles [11,930.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,181 miles [13,166 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,211 miles [9,995.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Merced County: www.co.merced.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 La Branza, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- La Branza) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in La Branza. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1747, Longitude: -120.3177 In this case, the coordinates for La Branza have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 La Branza to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.37 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.915 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.882 degrees. |