Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in La Brea, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Brea and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for La Brea
- 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 Brea:
- 34.078621, -118.353688
- 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 Brea
- 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 Los Angeles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Los Angeles County
- Since La Brea is near Ventura County and also Orange County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ventura County
- eBird sighting report for Orange 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 Brea ...
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.
- Century City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Century City
- Century City is located in Los Angeles County
- Crescent
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Echo Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Harvard Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvard Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Heights
- Harvard Heights is located in Los Angeles County
- Home Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Home Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Junction
- Home Junction is located in Los Angeles County
- Koreatown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Little Ethiopia
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Ethiopia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Ethiopia
- Little Ethiopia is located in Los Angeles County
- Palms
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Studio City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Studio City
- Studio City is located in Los Angeles County
- Universal City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Universal City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Universal City
- Universal City is located in Los Angeles County
- View Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for View Park
- View Park is located in Los Angeles County
- Vineyard
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
How Far From La Brea 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 Brea to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in La Brea and extending to:
- Los Angeles, which is the Seat of Los Angeles County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 356 miles [572.9 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from La Brea to Sacramento, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 21 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,297 miles [3,696.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 131 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,568 miles [12,179.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,337 miles [13,417.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,327 miles [10,182.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for La Brea. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Los Angeles County: www.lacounty.info/
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> | 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 Brea) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in La Brea. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0786, Longitude: -118.3537 In this case, the coordinates for La Brea have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Brea to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.335 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.26 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.696 degrees. |