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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for California





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mesa Grande, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mesa Grande 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 Mesa Grande:
    • 33.180085, -116.769468
    • 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 Mesa Grande
  • 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 San Diego County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • eBird sighting report for San Diego County
    • Since Mesa Grande is near Riverside County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • eBird sighting report for Riverside 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 Mesa Grande ...

We found one communities that share the name Mesa Grande.

There is one other community in California which is also named Mesa Grande.

Beyond California.

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Sonoma 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 California community of Mesa Grande [Sonoma County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mesa Grande ...

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.

  • Eagles Nest
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagles Nest have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagles Nest
    • Eagles Nest is located in San Diego County
  • Fernbrook
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fernbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernbrook
    • Fernbrook is located in San Diego County
  • Four Corners
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
    • Four Corners is located in San Diego County
  • Julian
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Oak Grove
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Oak Grove is located in San Diego County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Oak Grove
    • From Mesa Grande to Oak Grove
  • Rock Haven ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Haven
    • Rock Haven is located in San Diego County
  • Scissors Crossing
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scissors Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scissors Crossing
    • Scissors Crossing is located in San Diego County
  • Shady Dell
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Dell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Dell
    • Shady Dell is located in San Diego County
  • Stonewall ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stonewall. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
    • Stonewall is located in San Diego County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Stonewall
    • From Mesa Grande to Stonewall
  • Valley Center
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Whispering Pines
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
    • Whispering Pines is located in San Diego County

How Far From Mesa Grande 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 Mesa Grande 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<5> community of Mesa Grande once stood, the straight-line distance<6> beginning in Mesa Grande and extending to:

  • San Diego, which is the Seat of San Diego County, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<6> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Mesa Grande to San Diego, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two 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 456 miles [733.9 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 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,235 miles [3,596.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 88 days and walking would take 127 days.
  • The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,587 miles [12,210.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,355 miles [13,446.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,326 miles [10,180.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>

The official website for San Diego County: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/

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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Mesa Grande 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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<5>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 Mesa Grande, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Mesa Grande) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mesa Grande. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1801, Longitude: -116.7695    
<7>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.
<8>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 Mesa Grande to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 334.893 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.442 degrees.
<11>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.773 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025