RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> San Diego County >> San Marcos >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
California

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 Marcos, we use the following websites to find information relevant to San Marcos 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 Marcos:
    • 33.142680, -117.163184
    • 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 Marcos
  • 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 Diego County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • eBird sighting report for San Diego County
    • Since San Marcos is near Riverside County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • eBird sighting report for Riverside 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 San Marcos ...

We found three communities that share the name San Marcos.

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

Beyond California, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Santa Barbara County
      • This San Marcos is located in Santa Barbara County and lies 183 miles [294.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the San Marcos that is located in San Diego County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Barbara County community of San Marcos.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Wakulla County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of San Marcos [Wakulla County].
    • Texas
      • Hays County
      • This San Marcos is located in Hays County and lies 1,151 miles [1,852.4 km]<1> to the east of the San Marcos that is located in San Diego County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hays County community of San Marcos.

Curious and Interesting Names Near San Marcos ...

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.

  • Eden Gardens
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Gardens
    • Eden Gardens is located in San Diego County
  • Elfin Forest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elfin Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elfin Forest
    • Elfin Forest is located in San Diego County
  • Harmony Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmony Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
    • Harmony Grove is located in San Diego County
  • Hidden Meadows
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hidden Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Meadows
    • Hidden Meadows is located in San Diego County
  • Lilac
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lilac have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilac
    • Lilac is located in San Diego County
  • Oceanside
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Twin Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks
    • Twin Oaks is located in San Diego County
  • Valley Center
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Vista
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
    • Vista is located in San Diego County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 100,636 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vista <4>

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

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

  • San Diego, which is the Seat of San Diego County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from San Marcos to San Diego, with an average speed<5> 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 446 miles [717.8 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 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,257 miles [3,632.3 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,599 miles [12,229.4 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 8,367 miles [13,465.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,342 miles [10,206.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

The official website for San Marcos: www.ci.san-marcos.ca.us/

The official website for San Diego County: www.sdcounty.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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- San Marcos) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Marcos. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1427, Longitude: -117.1632    
<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 Marcos, 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>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 San Marcos 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 335.211 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.827 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.995 degrees.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024