Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Gem Village, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gem Village and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Gem Village
- 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 Gem Village:
- 37.219102, -107.637441
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Gem Village
- 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 La Plata County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for La Plata County
- Since Gem Village is near Archuleta County and also San Juan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Archuleta County
- eBird sighting report for San Juan 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Gem Village ...
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.
- Carbon Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Junction
- Carbon Junction is located in La Plata County
- Chimney Rock
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chimney Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Rock
- Chimney Rock is located in Archuleta County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chimney Rock <2>
- Columbus
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Florida
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florida
- Florida is located in La Plata County
- Grandview
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Self Place
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Self Place have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Self Place
- Self Place is located in San Juan County (NM)
- Tiffany
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Trimble
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest) - Young Place
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Young Place have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young Place
- Young Place is located in San Juan County (NM)
How Far From Gem Village 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 Gem Village to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Gem Village and extending to:
- Durango, which is the Seat of La Plata County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Gem Village to Durango, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 225 miles [362.1 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 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,659 miles [2,669.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 65 days and walking would take 95 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,096 miles [11,419.9 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 7,860 miles [12,649.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,791 miles [9,319.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Gem Village. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for La Plata County: www.co.laplata.co.us/
The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gem Village) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gem Village. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2191, Longitude: -107.6374 |
| <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 Gem Village to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.255 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 326.815 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.633 degrees. |