Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ralston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ralston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ralston
- 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 Ralston:
- 39.004901, -120.676039
- 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 Ralston
- 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 Placer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Placer County
- Since Ralston is near El Dorado County and also Nevada County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for El Dorado County
- eBird sighting report for Nevada 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 Ralston ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Ralston.
Within California, the name Ralston is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Ralston lies 904 miles [1,454.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Ralston that is located in Placer County.
- Iowa
- Manitoba
- This Ralston lies 1,236 miles [1,989.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Ralston that is located in Placer County.
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ralston ...
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.
- Bath ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Buckeye
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Four Acres
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Acres
- Four Acres is located in Placer County
- Greekstore
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greekstore
- Greekstore is located in Placer County
- Hughes Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hughes Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes Mill
- Hughes Mill is located in Placer County
- Last Chance ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Last Chance have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
- Last Chance is located in Placer County
- Mayflower ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Michigan Bluff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Bluff
- Michigan Bluff is located in Placer County
- Red Point ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Todd Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Todd Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd Valley
- Todd Valley is located in Placer County
- Volcanoville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Volcanoville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volcanoville
- Volcanoville is located in El Dorado County
How Far From Ralston 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 Ralston 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 Ralston once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ralston and extending to:
- Auburn, which is the Seat of Placer County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ralston to Auburn, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 52 miles [83.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,320 miles [3,733.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,302 miles [11,751.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,070 miles [12,987.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,115 miles [9,841.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Placer County: www.placer.ca.gov/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Ralston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ralston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0049, Longitude: -120.6760 In this case, the coordinates for Ralston 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Ralston 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 Ralston, 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 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. |
| <6> | 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 Ralston to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.868 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.615 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.088 degrees. |