Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Melones, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melones and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Melones
- 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 Melones:
- 38.011968, -120.498231
- 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 Melones
- 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 Calaveras County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calaveras County
- Since Melones is near Tuolumne County and also Stanislaus County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tuolumne County
- eBird sighting report for Stanislaus 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 Melones ...
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.
- Angels Camp
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angels Camp
- Angels Camp is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Angels Camp <1>
- Angels City
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Angels City came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angels City
- Angels City is located in Calaveras County
- Heavenly Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heavenly Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heavenly Hills
- Heavenly Hills is located in Tuolumne County
- Jamestown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Jamestown is located in Tuolumne County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jamestown <1>
- Martinez
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Montezuma
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Parrotts Ferry
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parrotts Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrotts Ferry
- Parrotts Ferry is located in Tuolumne County
- Peppermint Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peppermint Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peppermint Creek
- Peppermint Creek is located in Tuolumne County
- Quail Hollow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quail Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
- Quail Hollow is located in Tuolumne County
- Quartz
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Rawhide
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawhide
- Rawhide is located in Tuolumne County
- Rolling Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolling Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
- Rolling Hills is located in Tuolumne County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Squabbletown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Squabbletown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squabbletown
- Squabbletown is located in Tuolumne County
- Stent
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stent
- Stent is located in Tuolumne County
- Woods Crossing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woods Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Crossing
- Woods Crossing is located in Tuolumne County
- Yankee Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill
- Yankee Hill is located in Tuolumne County
- Squabbletown
How Far From Melones 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 Melones to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Melones once stood, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Melones and extending to:
- San Andreas, which is the Seat of Calaveras County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<5> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Melones to San Andreas, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 66 miles [106.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,328 miles [3,746.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 133 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,363 miles [11,849.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,131 miles [13,085.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,168 miles [9,926.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Calaveras County: www.co.calaveras.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
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> | If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Melones, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Melones) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Melones. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0120, Longitude: -120.4982 In this case, the coordinates for Melones have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Melones to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.615 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.257 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.989 degrees. |