RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Sonoma County >> Washoe >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Washoe, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Washoe 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 Washoe:
    • 38.305749, -122.735822
    • 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 Washoe
  • 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 Sonoma County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sonoma County
    • Since Washoe is near Marin County and also Napa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Napa 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 Washoe

Communities Also Named Washoe ...

We found three communities that are also named Washoe.

Within California, the name Washoe is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Idaho
      • Ada County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Idaho community of Washoe [Ada County].
      • Payette County
      • This Washoe is located in Payette County and lies 497 miles [799.8 km]<2> to the northeast of the Washoe that is located in Sonoma County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Payette County community of Washoe.
    • Montana
      • Carbon County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Washoe [Carbon County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Washoe ...

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.

  • Cherry ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cherry is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry
  • Crown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Crown is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
  • Fredericks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fredericks is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredericks
  • Haystack
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Haystack is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haystack
  • Hurlbut
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hurlbut is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurlbut
  • Liberty
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Liberty is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
  • Orchard
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Orchard is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard
  • Roseland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Roseland is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
  • Stony Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Stony Point is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
  • Two Rock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Two Rock is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Rock

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

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

  • Santa Rosa, which is the Seat of Sonoma County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Washoe to Santa Rosa, with an average speed<4> 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 70 miles [112.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,439 miles [3,925.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 96 days and walking would take 139 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,386 miles [11,886.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,152 miles [13,119.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,215 miles [10,002.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

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 Washoe 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Washoe) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Washoe, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Washoe 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 Washoe. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3057, Longitude: -122.7358       In this case, the coordinates for Washoe have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.527 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 341.569 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.362 degrees.