RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Orange County >> La Palma >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in La Palma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Palma 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 La Palma:
    • 33.846298, -118.046016
    • 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 La Palma
  • 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 Orange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Since La Palma is near Los Angeles County and also San Bernardino County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Los Angeles County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Bernardino 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 La Palma

Communities Also Named La Palma ...

We found two communities that are also named La Palma.

Within California, the name La Palma is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Pinal County
      • This La Palma is located in Pinal County and lies 382 miles [614.8 km]<1> to the east of the La Palma that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pinal County community of La Palma.
    • Texas
      • Hidalgo County
      • This La Palma is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,285 miles [2,068 km]<1> to the east southeast of the La Palma that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of La Palma.

Curious and Interesting Names Near La Palma ...

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.

How Far From La Palma 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 La Palma to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Santa Ana, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from La Palma to Santa Ana, with an average speed<3> 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 378 miles [608.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,287 miles [3,680.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 130 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,575 miles [12,190.8 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 8,344 miles [13,428.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,331 miles [10,188.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- La Palma) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Palma 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 La Palma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8463, Longitude: -118.0460    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.046 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.893 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.514 degrees.