RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> Archuleta County >> Altura >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Altura, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Altura 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 Altura:
    • 37.183338, -107.191154
    • 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 Altura
  • 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 Archuleta County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Archuleta County
    • Since Altura is near Rio Arriba County and also La Plata County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rio Arriba County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for La Plata 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 Altura

Communities Also Named Altura ...

We found three communities that are also named Altura.

There is one other community in Colorado that is also named Altura.

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

  • Communities Located In Colorado ...
    • Arapahoe County
      • This Altura is located in Arapahoe County and lies 218 miles [350.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Altura that is located in Archuleta County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arapahoe County community of Altura.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Winona County
      • This Altura is located in Winona County and lies 927 miles [1,491.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Altura that is located in Archuleta County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Winona County community of Altura.
    • New Jersey
      • Mercer County
      • This Altura is located in Mercer County and lies 1,747 miles [2,811.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Altura that is located in Archuleta County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Altura.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Altura ...

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.

  • Chimney Rock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Dulce
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Edith
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Edith is located in Archuleta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edith
  • Gato
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Gato is located in Archuleta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gato
  • Lonetree
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Lonetree is located in Archuleta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonetree
  • Navajo
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Navajo is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo
  • Self Place
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Self Place is located in San Juan County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Self Place
  • Tiffany
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Tiffany is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiffany
  • Treasure
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Treasure is located in Archuleta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treasure
  • Young Place
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Young Place is located in San Juan County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young Place

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

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

  • Pagosa Springs, which is the Seat of Archuleta County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Altura to Pagosa Springs, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 213 miles [342.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,636 miles [2,632.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 64 days and walking would take 93 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,086 miles [11,403.8 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 7,848 miles [12,630.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,777 miles [9,297.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Altura) 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 Altura 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 Altura. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1833, Longitude: -107.1912       In this case, the coordinates for Altura have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 327.913 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 326.406 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.395 degrees.