Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Swallows Nest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swallows Nest and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Swallows Nest
- 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 Swallows Nest:
- 37.157218, -108.467865
- 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 Swallows Nest
- 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 Montezuma County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Montezuma County
- Since Swallows Nest is near La Plata County and also San Juan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for La Plata 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 Swallows Nest ...
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.
- Cottonwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Cottonwood is located in San Juan County (NM)
- Dolores
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolores
- Dolores is located in Montezuma County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 964 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dolores <2>
- Echo House ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Echo House have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo House
- Echo House is located in Montezuma County
- Fruitland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
- Fruitland is located in San Juan County (NM)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitland <2>
- Lewis
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
- Lewis is located in Montezuma County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewis <2>
- Marvel
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marvel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvel
- Marvel is located in La Plata County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marvel <2>
- Mayday ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast) - Redmesa
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east) - Roundup Junction
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roundup Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roundup Junction
- Roundup Junction is located in Montezuma County
- Shiprock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiprock
- Shiprock is located in San Juan County (NM)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shiprock <2>
- Yellow Jacket
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Jacket
- Yellow Jacket is located in Montezuma County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yellow Jacket <2>
How Far From Swallows Nest 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 community such as Swallows Nest to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Swallows Nest once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Swallows Nest and extending to:
- Cortez, which is the Seat of Montezuma County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<4> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Swallows Nest to Cortez, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 259 miles [416.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,705 miles [2,743.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 67 days and walking would take 97 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,124 miles [11,465 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,888 miles [12,694.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,823 miles [9,371.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Montezuma County: www.co.montezuma.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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Swallows Nest, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Swallows Nest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swallows Nest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1572, Longitude: -108.4679 In this case, the coordinates for Swallows Nest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Swallows Nest to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.88 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.55 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.087 degrees. |