RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> San Joaquin County >> Ortega >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Ortega:
    • 37.907432, -121.257039
    • 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 Ortega
  • 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 Joaquin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Joaquin County
    • Since Ortega is near Stanislaus County and also Contra Costa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stanislaus County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Contra Costa 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 Ortega

Communities Also Named Ortega ...

We found two communities that are also named Ortega.

There is one other community in California that is also named Ortega.

Beyond California, there is another community also named Ortega in the United States.

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Santa Barbara County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Ortega [Santa Barbara County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Duval County
      • This Ortega is located in Duval County and lies 2,304 miles [3,707.9 km]<2> to the east of the Ortega that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Duval County community of Ortega.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ortega ...

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.

  • Collegeville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Collegeville is located in San Joaquin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collegeville
  • Fair Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fair Oaks is located in San Joaquin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • French Camp
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Kennedy
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Kennedy is located in San Joaquin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
  • Lane
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lane is located in San Joaquin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
  • Lincoln Village
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln Village is located in San Joaquin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Village
  • Manteca
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Manteca Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mormon
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Mormon is located in San Joaquin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mormon
  • Summer Home
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Summer Home is located in San Joaquin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Home

How Far From Ortega to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ortega 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 community of Ortega once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ortega and extending to:

  • Stockton, which is the Seat of San Joaquin County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from Ortega to Sacramento, with an average speed<4> 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 most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,370 miles [3,814.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 135 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,384 miles [11,883.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,152 miles [13,119.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,196 miles [9,971.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Ortega, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 from Point A (ie- Ortega) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Ortega 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 Ortega. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9074, Longitude: -121.2570       In this case, the coordinates for Ortega have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.239 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.001 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.452 degrees.