Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in San Rafael, we use the following websites to find information relevant to San Rafael and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for San Rafael
- 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 Rafael:
- 37.973161, -122.528241
- 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 Rafael
- 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 Marin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marin County
- Since San Rafael is near Contra Costa County and also Sonoma County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Contra Costa County
- eBird sighting report for Sonoma 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 Rafael ...
We found four communities that share the name San Rafael.
Within California, the name San Rafael is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Pima County
- This San Rafael is located in Pima County and lies 733 miles [1,179.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the San Rafael that is located in Marin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pima County community of San Rafael.
- Colorado
- Conejos County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of San Rafael [Conejos County].
- New Mexico
- Cibola County
- This San Rafael is located in Cibola County and lies 835 miles [1,343.8 km]<1> to the east of the San Rafael that is located in Marin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cibola County community of San Rafael.
- San Miguel County
- This San Rafael is located in San Miguel County and lies 1,012 miles [1,628.7 km] to the east of the San Rafael that is located in Marin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Miguel County community of San Rafael.
- Arizona
Curious and Interesting Names Near San Rafael ...
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.
- Golf ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Homestead Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homestead Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead Valley
- Homestead Valley is located in Marin County
- Kent Woodlands
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent Woodlands have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Woodlands
- Kent Woodlands is located in Marin County
- Larkspur
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkspur
- Larkspur is located in Marin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,236 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Larkspur <4>
- Little Reed Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Reed Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Reed Heights
- Little Reed Heights is located in Marin County
- Lucas Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lucas Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas Valley
- Lucas Valley is located in Marin County
- Manor
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Meadowsweet
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowsweet have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowsweet
- Meadowsweet is located in Marin County
- Paradise Cay
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Cay
- Paradise Cay is located in Marin County
- Reed
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Sleepy Hollow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sleepy Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
- Sleepy Hollow is located in Marin County
- Strawberry
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strawberry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
- Strawberry is located in Marin County
How Far From San Rafael 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 Rafael to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in San Rafael and extending to:
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 70 miles [112.7 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from San Rafael to Sacramento, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take three full days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,435 miles [3,918.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 96 days and walking would take 139 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,404 miles [11,915.6 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 8,170 miles [13,148.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,229 miles [10,024.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for San Rafael: www.cityofsanrafael.org/
The official website for Marin County: www.co.marin.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- San Rafael) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Rafael. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9732, Longitude: -122.5282 |
| <2> | 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 Rafael 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. |
| <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 Rafael 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 340.317 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 341.302 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.233 degrees. |