RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Placer County >> Twin Pines >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Twin Pines, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Twin Pines 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 Twin Pines:
    • 39.025453, -120.979387
    • 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 Twin Pines
  • 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 Placer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Placer County
    • Since Twin Pines is near Nevada County and also El Dorado County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Nevada County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for El Dorado 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 Twin Pines

Communities Also Named Twin Pines ...

We found two communities that are also named Twin Pines.

Within California, the name Twin Pines is unique.

Beyond California, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Cherokee County
      • This Twin Pines is located in Cherokee County and lies 2,029 miles [3,265.4 km]<1> to the east of the Twin Pines that is located in Placer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Twin Pines.
    • Virginia
      • Portsmouth City
      • This Twin Pines is located in Portsmouth City and lies 2,407 miles [3,873.7 km]<1> to the east of the Twin Pines that is located in Placer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Portsmouth City community of Twin Pines.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Twin Pines ...

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.

  • Cape Horn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cape Horn is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cape Horn
  • Clipper Gap
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Clipper Gap is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper Gap
  • Dew Drop
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Dew Drop is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dew Drop
  • Eden Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Eden Valley is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Valley
  • Heather Glen
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Heather Glen is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Glen
  • Illinoistown ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Illinoistown is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinoistown
  • Meadow Vista
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Plumtree Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Plumtree Crossing is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumtree Crossing
  • Shady Glen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Shady Glen is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Glen
  • Todd Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Todd Valley is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd Valley
  • Yankee Jims
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Yankee Jims is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Jims

How Far From Twin Pines 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 Twin Pines to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Twin Pines and extending to:

  • Auburn, which is the Seat of Placer County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Twin Pines to Auburn, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 41 miles [66 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,335 miles [3,757.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,307 miles [11,759.5 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 8,074 miles [12,993.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,123 miles [9,854 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Twin Pines) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Twin Pines 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 Twin Pines. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0255, Longitude: -120.9794       In this case, the coordinates for Twin Pines have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.123 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.921 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.274 degrees.