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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rancho Santa Margarita, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rancho Santa Margarita 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 Rancho Santa Margarita:
- 33.638820, -117.601830
- 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 Rancho Santa Margarita
- 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 Orange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
- Since Rancho Santa Margarita is near Riverside County and also San Diego County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Riverside County
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Diego 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 Rancho Santa Margarita
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rancho Santa Margarita ...
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.
- Carbondale ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Carbondale is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
- Crystal Cove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Crystal Cove is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Cove
- Dana Point
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Dove Canyon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Dove Canyon is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dove Canyon
- Emerald Bay
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Emerald Bay is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Bay
- Frances
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Frances is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frances
- Kathryn
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Kathryn is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kathryn
- Lemon Heights
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lemon Heights is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemon Heights
- Pepper Corner
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Pepper Corner is located in Riverside County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pepper Corner
- Robinson Ranch
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Robinson Ranch is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Ranch
- Terra Cotta
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Terra Cotta is located in Riverside County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terra Cotta
- Three Arch Bay
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Three Arch Bay is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Arch Bay
- Top of the World
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Top of the World is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Top of the World
How Far From Rancho Santa Margarita 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 city such as Rancho Santa Margarita to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Rancho Santa Margarita and extending to:
- Santa Ana, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rancho Santa Margarita to Santa Ana, with an average speed<3> 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 404 miles [650.2 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 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,268 miles [3,650 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 89 days and walking would take 129 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,578 miles [12,195.6 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 8,347 miles [13,433.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,328 miles [10,183.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rancho Santa Margarita) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Rancho Santa Margarita 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 Rancho Santa Margarita. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6388, Longitude: -117.6018 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 335.648 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.394 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.255 degrees. |
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