Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McFarland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McFarland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McFarland
- 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 McFarland:
- 35.678023, -119.227455
- 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 McFarland
- 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 Kern County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kern County
- Since McFarland is near Tulare County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named McFarland ...
We found eight communities that share the name McFarland.
Within California, the name McFarland is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- McMinn County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of McFarland [McMinn County].
- Polk County
- This McFarland is located in Polk County and lies 1,949 miles [3,136.6 km]<2> to the east of the McFarland that is located in Kern County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of McFarland.
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near McFarland ...
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.
- Elmo
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Halfway House
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halfway House have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway House
- Halfway House is located in Kern County
- Hights Corner
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hights Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hights Corner
- Hights Corner is located in Kern County
- Jasmin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Leonards ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest) - Mexican Colony
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mexican Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexican Colony
- Mexican Colony is located in Kern County
- Minter Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minter Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minter Village
- Minter Village is located in Kern County
- Pond
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
How Far From McFarland 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 McFarland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McFarland and extending to:
- Bakersfield, which is the Seat of Kern County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from McFarland to Bakersfield, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 235 miles [378.2 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,307 miles [3,712.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 131 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,486 miles [12,047.5 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 8,254 miles [13,283.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,264 miles [10,080.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for McFarland: www.mcfarlandcity.org/
The official website for Kern County: www.co.kern.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 McFarland 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McFarland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McFarland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6780, Longitude: -119.2275 |
| <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 McFarland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 McFarland 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 337.278 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.508 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.226 degrees. |