Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Thermal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thermal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Thermal
- 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 Thermal:
- 33.640267, -116.14227
- 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 Thermal
- 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 Riverside County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Riverside County
- Since Thermal is near Imperial County and also San Diego County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Imperial County
- eBird sighting report for San Diego 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 Thermal ...
We found five communities that share the name Thermal.
There are two communities within California that are also named Thermal.
Beyond California, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In California ...
- Fresno County
- San Diego County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- North Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Thermal ...
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.
- Cactus City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cactus City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cactus City
- Cactus City is located in Riverside County
- Desert Beach
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Desert Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desert Beach
- Desert Beach is located in Riverside County
- Desert Camp
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Desert Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desert Camp
- Desert Camp is located in Riverside County
- Hidden Palms
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hidden Palms have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Palms
- Hidden Palms is located in Riverside County
- Indian Wells
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Wells
- Indian Wells is located in Riverside County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,544 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Indian Wells <4>
- Martinez
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez
- Martinez is located in Riverside County
- Oasis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
- Oasis is located in Riverside County
- Palm Desert
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Desert
- Palm Desert is located in Riverside County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 53,524 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palm Desert <4>
- Sandy Korner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Korner
- Sandy Korner is located in Riverside County
- Valerie
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Thermal 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 community such as Thermal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Thermal and extending to:
- Riverside, which is the Seat of Riverside County, lies 75 miles [120.7 km]<5> to the west northwest. If you could drive a straight line from Thermal to Riverside, with an average speed<6>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 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 452 miles [727.4 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,190 miles [3,524.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 86 days and walking would take 125 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,542 miles [12,137.7 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 8,311 miles [13,375.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,280 miles [10,106.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Thermal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Riverside County: www.co.riverside.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Thermal 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. |
| <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 Thermal, 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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Thermal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thermal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6403, Longitude: -116.1423 |
| <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 Thermal 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 334.449 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 333.936 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.424 degrees. |