RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> Conejos County >> La Jara >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in La Jara, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Jara 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 La Jara:
    • 37.274938, -105.960345
    • 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 La Jara
  • 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 Conejos County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Conejos County
    • Since La Jara is near Alamosa County and also Rio Arriba County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alamosa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rio Arriba 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 La Jara

Communities Also Named La Jara ...

We found two communities that are also named La Jara.

Within Colorado, the name La Jara is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Mexico
      • Mora County
      • This La Jara is located in Mora County and lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the La Jara that is located in Conejos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mora County community of La Jara.
      • Sandoval County
      • This La Jara is located in Sandoval County and lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the southwest of the La Jara that is located in Conejos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sandoval County community of La Jara.

Curious and Interesting Names Near La Jara ...

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.

  • Big Horn
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Horn is located in Rio Arriba County (NM)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Horn
  • Bountiful
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Fox Creek
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Fox Creek is located in Conejos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Creek
  • Guadalupe
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Guadalupe is located in Conejos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
  • Henry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Homelake
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Lava ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Romeo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Sugar Junction
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sugar Junction is located in Rio Grande County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Junction

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

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

  • Conejos, which is the Seat of Conejos County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from La Jara to Conejos, with an average speed<3> 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 178 miles [286.5 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 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,569 miles [2,525.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 62 days and walking would take 90 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,044 miles [11,336.2 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 7,805 miles [12,560.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,727 miles [9,216.7 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- La Jara) 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 La Jara 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 La Jara. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2749, Longitude: -105.9603    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.999 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 325.333 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.73 degrees.