Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Plains, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plains and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Plains
- 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 Plains:
- 37.023557, -120.349064
- 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 Plains
- 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 Madera County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Madera County
- Since Plains is near Merced County and also Fresno County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Merced County
- eBird sighting report for Fresno 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 Plains ...
We found 21 communities that share the name Plains.
Within California, the name Plains is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Cobb County
- This Plains is located in Cobb County and lies 2,014 miles [3,241.2 km]<1> to the east of the Plains that is located in Madera County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cobb County community of Plains.
- Sumter County
- This Plains is located in Sumter County and lies 2,061 miles [3,316.9 km] to the east of the Plains that is located in Madera County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Plains.
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Caroline County
- This Plains is located in Caroline County and lies 2,398 miles [3,859.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Plains that is located in Madera County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caroline County community of Plains.
- Charles County
- This Plains is located in Charles County and lies 2,354 miles [3,788.4 km] to the east northeast of the Plains that is located in Madera County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charles County community of Plains.
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oneida County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Plains [Oneida County].
- Washington County
- This Plains is located in Washington County and lies 2,485 miles [3,999.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Plains that is located in Madera County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Plains.
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Borden County
- This Plains is located in Borden County and lies 1,093 miles [1,759 km]<1> to the east of the Plains that is located in Madera County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Borden County community of Plains.
- Yoakum County
- This Plains is located in Yoakum County and lies 1,022 miles [1,644.7 km] to the east of the Plains that is located in Madera County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yoakum County community of Plains.
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Plains ...
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.
- Ash ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Bonita
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Chowchilla
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chowchilla
- Chowchilla is located in Madera County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,153 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chowchilla <5>
- Dairyland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Gregg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast) - Italian Swiss Colony
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Italian Swiss Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Swiss Colony
- Italian Swiss Colony is located in Madera County
- Lincoln ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Plainsburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsburg
- Plainsburg is located in Merced County
- Wood Ranch
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wood Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Ranch
- Wood Ranch is located in Fresno County
How Far From Plains 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 Plains 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 Plains once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Plains and extending to:
- Madera, which is the Seat of Madera County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Plains to Madera, 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 five to six hours.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 124 miles [199.6 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,339 miles [3,764.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,423 miles [11,946.2 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 8,191 miles [13,182.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,220 miles [10,010.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Madera County: www.madera-county.com/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Plains) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0236, Longitude: -120.3491 In this case, the coordinates for Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Plains 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. |
| <3> | 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 Plains, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Plains 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 338.379 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.917 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.901 degrees. |