Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mission San Rafael, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mission San Rafael and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Mission San Rafael

• 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 Mission San Rafael:
  • 37.972701, -122.524420
  • 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 Mission San Rafael

• 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 Marin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Marin County
  • Since Mission San Rafael is near Contra Costa County and also Sonoma County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Contra Costa County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Sonoma 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 Mission San Rafael

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mission San Rafael ...

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.

• Golf ‑ Historic
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Golf is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golf
• Homestead Valley
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Homestead Valley is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead Valley
• Kent Woodlands
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Kent Woodlands is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Woodlands
• Larkspur
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Larkspur is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkspur
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,236 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Larkspur <1>
• Little Reed Heights
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Little Reed Heights is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Reed Heights
• Lucas Valley
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Lucas Valley is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas Valley
• Manor
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Manor is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor
• Meadowsweet
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Meadowsweet is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowsweet
• Paradise Cay
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Paradise Cay is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Cay
• Reed
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Reed is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed
• Sleepy Hollow
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Sleepy Hollow is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
• Strawberry
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Strawberry is located in Marin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry

How Far From Mission San Rafael 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 Mission San Rafael to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

• San Rafael, which is the Seat of Marin County, lies just to the West.
• Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 70 miles [112.7 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from Mission San Rafael to Sacramento, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take three full days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,435 miles [3,918.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 96 days and walking would take 139 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,404 miles [11,915.6 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 8,170 miles [13,148.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,229 miles [10,024.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'