RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
Quarter for
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The Commemorative Quarter for California





Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 San Clemente:
    • 33.426908, -117.610529
    • 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 San Clemente
  • 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 San Clemente ...

We found two communities that share the name San Clemente.

There is one other community in California which is also named San Clemente.

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

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Marin County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of San Clemente [Marin County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Mexico
      • Valencia County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Valencia County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Valencia County community of San Clemente.

Curious and Interesting Names Near San Clemente ...

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.

  • Crystal Cove
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Cove
    • Crystal Cove is located in Orange County
  • Dana Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Don ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Don have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Don
    • Don is located in San Diego County
  • Dove Canyon
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dove Canyon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dove Canyon
    • Dove Canyon is located in Orange County
  • Emerald Bay
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerald Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Bay
    • Emerald Bay is located in Orange County
  • Robinson Ranch
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robinson Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Ranch
    • Robinson Ranch is located in Orange County
  • Three Arch Bay
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Arch Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Arch Bay
    • Three Arch Bay is located in Orange County
  • Top of the World
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Top of the World have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Top of the World
    • Top of the World is located in Orange County

How Far From San Clemente 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 San Clemente to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in San Clemente and extending to:

  • Santa Ana, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<5> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from San Clemente to Santa Ana, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 416 miles [669.5 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 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,274 miles [3,659.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 89 days and walking would take 130 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,591 miles [12,216.5 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 8,360 miles [13,454.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,340 miles [10,203.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>

The official website for San Clemente: www.ci.san-clemente.ca.us/

The official website for Orange County: www.oc.ca.gov/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 San Clemente 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.
<2>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 San Clemente, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- San Clemente) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Clemente. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4269, Longitude: -117.6105    
<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 San Clemente 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 335.623 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.35 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.256 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024