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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wood Ranch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wood Ranch 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 Wood Ranch:
- 36.749395, -120.639066
- 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 Wood Ranch
- 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 Fresno County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fresno County
- Since Wood Ranch is near Merced County and also San Benito County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Merced County
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Benito 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 Wood Ranch
Curious and Interesting Names Near Wood Ranch ...
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.
- Ash ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ash is located in Madera County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash
- Bonita
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bonita is located in Madera County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonita
- Dairyland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dairyland is located in Madera County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dairyland
- Lincoln ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Lincoln is located in Madera County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Plains ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Plains is located in Madera County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plains
- Three Rocks
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Three Rocks is located in Fresno County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Rocks
- Volta
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Volta is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volta
How Far From Wood Ranch 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 Wood Ranch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Wood Ranch and extending to:
- Fresno, which is the Seat of Fresno County, lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Wood Ranch to Fresno, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 134 miles [215.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,360 miles [3,798.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 134 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,447 miles [11,984.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,215 miles [13,220.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,245 miles [10,050.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>'
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 from Point A (ie- Wood Ranch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Wood Ranch 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 Wood Ranch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7494, Longitude: -120.6391 In this case, the coordinates for Wood Ranch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.59 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.157 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.076 degrees. |
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