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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dolores, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dolores 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 Dolores:
    • 37.474922, -108.497875
    • 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 Dolores
  • 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 Montezuma County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montezuma County
    • Since Dolores is near Dolores County and also La Plata County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dolores 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 Dolores

Communities Also Named Dolores ...

We found six communities that are also named Dolores.

Within Colorado, the name Dolores is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Los Angeles County
      • This Dolores is located in Los Angeles County and lies 600 miles [965.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Dolores that is located in Montezuma County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of Dolores.
    • New Mexico
      • Santa Fe County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Dolores [Santa Fe County].
      • Union County
      • This community is historic and although located in Union County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Dolores.
    • Texas
      • Kinney County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Kinney County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kinney County community of Dolores.
      • Webb County
      • This community is historic and although located in Webb County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webb County community of Dolores.
      • Zapata County
      • This Dolores is located in Zapata County and lies 880 miles [1,416.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Dolores that is located in Montezuma County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Zapata County community of Dolores.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dolores ...

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.

  • Echo House ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Echo House is located in Montezuma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo House
  • Lewis
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Mayday ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Mayday is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayday
  • Pleasant View
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Roundup Junction
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Roundup Junction is located in Montezuma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roundup Junction
  • Stoner
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Stoner is located in Montezuma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoner
  • Swallows Nest ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Swallows Nest is located in Montezuma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swallows Nest
  • Yellow Jacket
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Cortez, which is the Seat of Montezuma County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Dolores to Cortez, 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.
  • Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 245 miles [394.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,701 miles [2,737.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 67 days and walking would take 97 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,106 miles [11,436 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 7,870 miles [12,665.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,808 miles [9,347.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Dolores) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Dolores, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Dolores 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 Dolores. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4749, Longitude: -108.4979    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.941 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.653 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.082 degrees.