Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in San Luis Obispo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to San Luis Obispo and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for San Luis Obispo
- 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 Luis Obispo:
- 35.281938, -120.659378
- 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 Luis Obispo
- 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 San Luis Obispo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for San Luis Obispo County
- Since San Luis Obispo is near San Mateo County and also Santa Barbara County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for San Mateo County
- eBird sighting report for Santa Barbara 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near San Luis Obispo ...
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.
- Dove ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Eaglet ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Edna
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Fairoaks
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Garden Farms
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Farms
- Garden Farms is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Goldtree
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Grover Beach
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover Beach
- Grover Beach is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,325 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grover Beach <2>
- Halcyon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Miles
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Oaks
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Reeds ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Shell Beach
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Beach
- Shell Beach is located in San Luis Obispo County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shell Beach <2>
- Sycamore Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sycamore Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Springs
- Sycamore Springs is located in San Luis Obispo County
How Far From San Luis Obispo 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 city such as San Luis Obispo to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in San Luis Obispo and extending to:
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 232 miles [373.4 km]<3> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from San Luis Obispo to Sacramento, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,392 miles [3,849.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 94 days and walking would take 136 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,541 miles [12,136.1 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 8,310 miles [13,373.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,331 miles [10,188.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for San Luis Obispo: www.slocity.org/
The official website for San Luis Obispo County: www.co.slo.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- San Luis Obispo) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Luis Obispo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.2819, Longitude: -120.6594 |
| <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 San Luis Obispo to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.427 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.878 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.073 degrees. |