RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> Mesa County >> Grand Junction >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Grand Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grand Junction and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Grand Junction:
    • 39.077346, -108.560880
    • 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 Grand Junction
  • 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 Mesa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mesa County
    • Since Grand Junction is near Delta County and also Grand County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Delta County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grand 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 Grand Junction

Communities Also Named Grand Junction ...

We found four communities that are also named Grand Junction.

Within Colorado, the name Grand Junction is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Idaho
      • Kootenai County
      • This Grand Junction is located in Kootenai County and lies 730 miles [1,174.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Grand Junction that is located in Mesa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kootenai County community of Grand Junction.
    • Iowa
      • Greene County
      • This Grand Junction is located in Greene County and lies 777 miles [1,250.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Grand Junction that is located in Mesa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Grand Junction.
    • Michigan
      • Van Buren County
      • This Grand Junction is located in Van Buren County and lies 1,195 miles [1,923.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Grand Junction that is located in Mesa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Van Buren County community of Grand Junction.
    • Tennessee
      • Fayette County
      • This Grand Junction is located in Fayette County and lies 1,100 miles [1,770.3 km]<1> to the east of the Grand Junction that is located in Mesa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Grand Junction.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Grand Junction ...

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.

  • Bridges Switch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Bridges Switch is located in Mesa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridges Switch
  • Fruitvale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Mount Lincoln
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Mount Lincoln is located in Mesa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Lincoln
  • Orchard Mesa
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Orchard Mesa is located in Mesa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Mesa
  • Pear Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Pear Park is located in Mesa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pear Park
  • Peeples
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Peeples is located in Delta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peeples
  • Rosevale
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Rosevale is located in Mesa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosevale
  • Ruby
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ruby is located in Mesa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby

How Far From Grand Junction 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 city such as Grand Junction to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 195 miles [313.8 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Grand Junction to Denver, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,683 miles [2,708.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 66 days and walking would take 96 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,013 miles [11,286.3 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 7,778 miles [12,517.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,725 miles [9,213.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Grand Junction) 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 Grand Junction 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 Grand Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0773, Longitude: -108.5609    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 329.168 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 328.078 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.00 degrees.