RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Monterey County >> Salinas >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Salinas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Salinas 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 Salinas:
    • 36.686910, -121.652550
    • 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 Salinas
  • 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 Monterey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monterey County
    • Since Salinas is near San Benito County and also Santa Clara County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Benito County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Clara 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 Salinas

Communities Also Named Salinas ...

We found four communities that are also named Salinas.

Within California, the name Salinas is unique.

Beyond California, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Nevada
      • Churchill County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Churchill County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Churchill County community of Salinas.
    • New Mexico
      • Otero County
      • This Salinas is located in Otero County and lies 912 miles [1,467.7 km]<2> to the east of the Salinas that is located in Monterey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otero County community of Salinas.
    • Texas
      • Jim Wells County
      • This Salinas is located in Jim Wells County and lies 1,498 miles [2,410.8 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Salinas that is located in Monterey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jim Wells County community of Salinas.
      • Starr County
      • This Salinas is located in Starr County and lies 1,505 miles [2,422.1 km] to the east southeast of the Salinas that is located in Monterey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Starr County community of Salinas.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Salinas ...

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.

How Far From Salinas 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 city such as Salinas to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Salinas and extending to:

  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 131 miles [210.8 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Salinas to Sacramento, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,414 miles [3,885 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,471 miles [12,023.4 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 8,238 miles [13,257.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,279 miles [10,105.1 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 Salinas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Salinas) 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 Salinas 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 Salinas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6869, Longitude: -121.6526    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.435 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.175 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.689 degrees.