RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Santa Clara County >> Ventura >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ventura, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ventura and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Ventura:
    • 37.423842, -122.138972
    • 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 Ventura
  • 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 Santa Clara County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Clara County
    • Since Ventura is near San Mateo County and also Alameda County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Mateo County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alameda 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 Ventura

Communities Also Named Ventura ...

We found five communities that are also named Ventura.

There is one other community in California that is also named Ventura.

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

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Ventura County
      • This Ventura is located in Ventura County and lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Ventura that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ventura County community of Ventura.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Orange County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Ventura [Orange County].
    • Iowa
      • Cerro Gordo County
      • This Ventura is located in Cerro Gordo County and lies 1,552 miles [2,497.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ventura that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cerro Gordo County community of Ventura.
    • Michigan
      • Ottawa County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Ventura [Ottawa County].
    • Texas
      • Montgomery County
      • This Ventura is located in Montgomery County and lies 1,592 miles [2,562.1 km]<1> to the east of the Ventura that is located in Santa Clara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Ventura.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ventura ...

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.

  • Castro City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Castro City is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castro City
  • Crescent Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Crescent Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Park
  • Evergreen Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Evergreen Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Park
  • Green Acres
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Green Acres is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Greenmeadow
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Greenmeadow is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenmeadow
  • Meadow Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Meadow Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Park
  • Neal
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Neal is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neal
  • Park Forest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Park Forest is located in San Mateo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Forest
  • Professorville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Professorville is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Professorville
  • Ravenswood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ravenswood is located in San Mateo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
  • University Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • University Heights is located in San Mateo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
  • Vintage Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Vintage Oaks is located in San Mateo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintage Oaks

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

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

  • San Jose, which is the Seat of Santa Clara County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ventura to San Jose, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 87 miles [140 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,425 miles [3,902.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,432 miles [11,960.6 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 8,199 miles [13,195 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,250 miles [10,058.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Ventura) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Ventura 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>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 Ventura 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 Ventura. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4238, Longitude: -122.1390    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.929 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.808 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.992 degrees.