RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Tuolumne County >> Sonora Knolls >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sonora Knolls, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sonora Knolls 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 Sonora Knolls:
    • 37.987424, -120.390472
    • 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 Sonora Knolls
  • 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 Tuolumne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuolumne County
    • Since Sonora Knolls is near Calaveras County and also Mariposa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calaveras County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mariposa 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 Sonora Knolls

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sonora Knolls ...

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.

  • Heavenly Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Heavenly Hills is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heavenly Hills
  • Jamestown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Martinez
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Martinez is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez
  • Mono Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mono Village is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mono Village
  • Peaceful Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Peaceful Valley is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaceful Valley
  • Peppermint Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Peppermint Creek is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peppermint Creek
  • Quail Hollow
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Quail Hollow is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
  • Quartz
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Quartz is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quartz
  • Rawhide
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rawhide is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawhide
  • Rolling Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rolling Hills is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
  • Scenic Brook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Scenic Brook is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Brook
  • Scenic View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Scenic View is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic View
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Squabbletown
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Squabbletown is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squabbletown
    • Standard
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Stent
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Stent is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stent
    • Woods Crossing
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Woods Crossing is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Crossing
    • Yankee Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Yankee Hill is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill

How Far From Sonora Knolls 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 community such as Sonora Knolls to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Sonora Knolls and extending to:

  • Sonora, which is the Seat of Tuolumne County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 72 miles [115.9 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Sonora Knolls to Sacramento, with an average speed<3>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 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,323 miles [3,738.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,362 miles [11,848 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,130 miles [13,084 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,166 miles [9,923.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Sonora Knolls) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Sonora Knolls 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 Sonora Knolls. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9874, Longitude: -120.3905       In this case, the coordinates for Sonora Knolls have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.522 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.144 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.924 degrees.