Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Taft, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Taft and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Taft
- 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 Taft:
- 35.143216, -119.459640
- 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 Taft
- 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 Kern County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kern County
- Since Taft is near Santa Barbara County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- 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
Communities Also Named Taft ...
We found 22 communities that share the name Taft.
Within California, the name Taft is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another 22 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 22 communities, 21 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- British Columbia
- This Taft lies 1,094 miles [1,760.6 km]<1> to the north of the Taft that is located in Kern County.
- Florida
- Hillsborough County
- This Taft is located in Hillsborough County and lies 2,231 miles [3,590.4 km]<1> to the east of the Taft that is located in Kern County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Taft.
- Orange County
- This Taft is located in Orange County and lies 2,269 miles [3,651.6 km] to the east of the Taft that is located in Kern County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Taft.
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Taft ...
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.
- Bannister
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast) - Buttonwillow
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttonwillow
- Buttonwillow is located in Kern County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buttonwillow <5>
- Fellows
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellows
- Fellows is located in Kern County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fellows <5>
- Ford City
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Gulf
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Kilowatt
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north) - Lakeview
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east) - Reward ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reward
- Reward is located in Kern County
- Strand ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Taft 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 Taft to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Taft and extending to:
- Bakersfield, which is the Seat of Kern County, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Taft to Bakersfield, with an average speed<6> 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 262 miles [421.6 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,332 miles [3,753 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 133 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,525 miles [12,110.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,294 miles [13,347.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,302 miles [10,142.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Taft: www.cityoftaft.org/
The official website for Kern County: www.co.kern.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- Taft) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Taft. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1432, Longitude: -119.4596 |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Taft 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> | 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 Taft, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Taft to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.402 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.626 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.358 degrees. |