RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Colorado >> Jefferson County >> Sierra Vista >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sierra Vista, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sierra Vista 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 Sierra Vista:
    • 39.835833, -105.113333
    • 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 Sierra Vista
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Sierra Vista is near Adams County and also Broomfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Broomfield 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 Sierra Vista

Communities Also Named Sierra Vista ...

We found six communities that are also named Sierra Vista.

There is one other community in Colorado that is also named Sierra Vista.

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

  • Communities Located In Colorado ...
    • Pueblo County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Sierra Vista [Pueblo County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Cochise County
      • This Sierra Vista is located in Cochise County and lies 640 miles [1,030 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Sierra Vista that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cochise County community of Sierra Vista.
    • California
      • Los Angeles County
      • This Sierra Vista is located in Los Angeles County and lies 820 miles [1,319.7 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Sierra Vista that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of Sierra Vista.
      • Madera County
      • This Sierra Vista is located in Madera County and lies 839 miles [1,350.2 km] to the west of the Sierra Vista that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madera County community of Sierra Vista.
      • Merced County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Sierra Vista [Merced County].
    • New Mexico
      • Lincoln County
      • This Sierra Vista is located in Lincoln County and lies 444 miles [714.5 km]<2> to the south of the Sierra Vista that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Sierra Vista.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sierra Vista ...

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.

  • Candlelight
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Candlelight is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Candlelight
  • Countryside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Countryside is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
  • Far Horizon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Far Horizon is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Far Horizon
  • Green Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Green Valley is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Hackberry Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Hackberry Hills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry Hills
  • Harris Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Harris Park is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Park
  • Hidden Creek Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hidden Creek Park is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Creek Park
  • Hidden Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hidden Lake is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Lake
  • Lake Arbor
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Arbor is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Arbor
  • Lakecrest
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Lakecrest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakecrest
  • Lakeview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Meadow Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Meadow Lake is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lake
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Park Slope
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Park Slope is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Slope
    • Rainbow Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Rainbow Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Ridge
    • Rolling Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Rolling Hills is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
    • Scenic Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Scenic Heights is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Heights
    • Skyline Vista
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Skyline Vista is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Vista
    • Spring Mesa
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Spring Mesa is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mesa
    • Sunset Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunset Ridge is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Ridge
    • Sunstream
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Sunstream is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunstream
    • Walnut Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
    • Wildwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Wildwood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Wood Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Wood Run is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Run

How Far From Sierra Vista 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 Sierra Vista to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Golden, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies just to the southeast (SE).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,494 miles [2,404.4 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Sierra Vista to White House, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 85 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 59 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,871 miles [11,057.8 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 7,634 miles [12,285.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,565 miles [8,956 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Sierra Vista 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.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sierra Vista) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Sierra Vista 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 Sierra Vista. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8358, Longitude: -105.1133       In this case, the coordinates for Sierra Vista have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.632 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 325.171 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.028 degrees.