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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Occidental, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Occidental 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 Occidental:
- 37.515010, -105.106945
- 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 Occidental
- 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 Huerfano County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Huerfano County
- Since Occidental is near Costilla County and also Las Animas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Costilla County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Las Animas 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 Occidental
Communities Also Named Occidental ...
We found two communities that are also named Occidental.
Within Colorado, the name Occidental is unique.
Beyond Colorado, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Sonoma County
- This Occidental is located in Sonoma County and lies 971 miles [1,562.7 km]<1> to the west of the Occidental that is located in Huerfano County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sonoma County community of Occidental.
- Florida
- Hamilton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Occidental [Hamilton County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Occidental ...
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.
- Fir
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fir is located in Costilla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fir
- Gordon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Gordon is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
- Lester
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Lester is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
- Monument Park
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Monument Park is located in Las Animas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument Park
- Morning Glory
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Morning Glory is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morning Glory
- Muleshoe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Muleshoe is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muleshoe
- Pryor
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Pryor is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pryor
- Red Wing
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Strong
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Strong is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strong
- Uptop ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Uptop is located in Huerfano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uptop
How Far From Occidental 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 community such as Occidental to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Occidental and extending to:
- Walsenburg, which is the Seat of Huerfano County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Occidental to Walsenburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
- Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 154 miles [247.8 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,520 miles [2,446.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 87 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,004 miles [11,271.8 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 7,764 miles [12,494.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,684 miles [9,147.5 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- Occidental) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Occidental could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <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 Occidental 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 Occidental. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5150, Longitude: -105.1069 In this case, the coordinates for Occidental have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.39 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.64 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.257 degrees. |
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