Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sylmar, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sylmar and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sylmar
- 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 Sylmar:
- 34.307778, -118.449250
- 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 Sylmar
- 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 Los Angeles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Los Angeles County
- Since Sylmar is near Ventura County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Ventura 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 Sylmar ...
We found three communities that share the name Sylmar.
Within California, the name Sylmar is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Maryland
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sylmar ...
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.
- Bouquet Junction
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bouquet Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bouquet Junction
- Bouquet Junction is located in Los Angeles County
- Forest Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
- Forest Park is located in Los Angeles County
- Granada Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granada Hills
- Granada Hills is located in Los Angeles County
- Indian Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
- Indian Springs is located in Los Angeles County
- Kagel Canyon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kagel Canyon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kagel Canyon
- Kagel Canyon is located in Los Angeles County
- Mint Canyon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mint Canyon
- Mint Canyon is located in Los Angeles County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mint Canyon <4>
- Mission Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
- Mission Hills is located in Los Angeles County
- Pardee
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Shadow Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shadow Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Hills
- Shadow Hills is located in Los Angeles County
- Sun Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
- Sun Valley is located in Los Angeles County
- Twin Lakes
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in Los Angeles County
- Wahoo ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Sylmar to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sylmar to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sylmar and extending to:
- Los Angeles, which is the Seat of Los Angeles County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sylmar to Los Angeles, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 339 miles [545.6 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,297 miles [3,696.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 131 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,555 miles [12,158.6 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 8,324 miles [13,396.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,317 miles [10,166.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sylmar. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Los Angeles County: www.lacounty.info/
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' (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- Sylmar) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sylmar. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3078, Longitude: -118.4493 In this case, the coordinates for Sylmar have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Sylmar 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 Sylmar 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 336.446 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.412 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.755 degrees. |