RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> El Dorado County >> Meeks Bay >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Meeks Bay, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Meeks Bay 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 Meeks Bay:
    • 39.034352, -120.124076
    • 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 Meeks Bay
  • 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 El Dorado County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for El Dorado County
    • Since Meeks Bay is near Placer County and also Douglas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Placer County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas 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 Meeks Bay

Curious and Interesting Names Near Meeks Bay ...

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.

  • Bijou
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bijou is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bijou
  • Diamond Crossing
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Diamond Crossing is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Crossing
  • Dollar Point
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Dollar Point is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dollar Point
  • Elk Point
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Elk Point is located in Douglas County (NV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Point
  • Emerald Bay
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Emerald Bay is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Bay
  • Fallen Leaf
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Frosts ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Frosts is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frosts
  • Hobart ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Hobart is located in Douglas County (NV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobart
  • Homewood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Idlewild
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Idlewild is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewild
  • Kiva Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Kiva Beach is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiva Beach
  • Lincoln Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Douglas County (NV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Rampart
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Rampart is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rampart
    • Round Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Round Hill is located in Douglas County (NV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Hill
    • Skyland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Skyland is located in Douglas County (NV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyland
    • Spring Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Creek is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
    • Sunnyside
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Sunnyside is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Zephyr Cove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Meeks Bay and extending to:

  • Placerville, which is the Seat of El Dorado County, lies 41 miles [66 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Meeks Bay to Placerville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 79 miles [127.1 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,291 miles [3,687 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 7,290 miles [11,732.1 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 8,057 miles [12,966.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,097 miles [9,812.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Meeks Bay) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Meeks Bay 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 Meeks Bay. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0344, Longitude: -120.1241       In this case, the coordinates for Meeks Bay have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.411 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.07 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.749 degrees.