RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Fresno County >> Las Palmas >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Las Palmas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Las Palmas 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 Las Palmas:
    • 36.757450, -119.700418
    • 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 Las Palmas
  • 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 Fresno County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fresno County
    • Since Las Palmas is near Madera County and also Tulare County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madera County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tulare 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 Las Palmas

Communities Also Named Las Palmas ...

We found four communities that are also named Las Palmas.

Within California, the name Las Palmas is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Texas
      • Cameron County
      • This Las Palmas is located in Cameron County and lies 1,478 miles [2,378.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Las Palmas that is located in Fresno County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cameron County community of Las Palmas.
      • El Paso County
      • This Las Palmas is located in El Paso County and lies 837 miles [1,347 km] to the east southeast of the Las Palmas that is located in Fresno County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the El Paso County community of Las Palmas.
      • Starr County
      • This Las Palmas is located in Starr County and lies 1,408 miles [2,266 km] to the east southeast of the Las Palmas that is located in Fresno County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Starr County community of Las Palmas.
      • Zapata County
      • This Las Palmas is located in Zapata County and lies 1,371 miles [2,206.4 km] to the east southeast of the Las Palmas that is located in Fresno County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Zapata County community of Las Palmas.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Las Palmas ...

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.

  • Butler ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Butler is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
  • Cecile
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Cecile is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecile
  • Fig Garden
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Fig Garden is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fig Garden
  • Fort Camp ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Fort Camp is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Camp
  • Goldleaf
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Goldleaf is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldleaf
  • Lone Star
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Melvin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Melvin is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
  • Sunnyside
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sunnyside is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Wolf
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Wolf is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf

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

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

  • Fresno, which is the Seat of Fresno County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 159 miles [255.9 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Las Palmas to Sacramento, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,310 miles [3,717.6 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,427 miles [11,952.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,195 miles [13,188.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,216 miles [10,003.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Las Palmas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Las Palmas 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 Las Palmas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7574, Longitude: -119.7004       In this case, the coordinates for Las Palmas have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.806 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.211 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.511 degrees.