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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Vallecito, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vallecito 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 Vallecito:
    • 37.379502, -107.581862
    • 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 Vallecito
  • 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 La Plata County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for La Plata County
    • Since Vallecito is near Archuleta County and also San Juan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Archuleta County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Vallecito

Communities Also Named Vallecito ...

We found three communities that are also named Vallecito.

Within Colorado, the name Vallecito is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Calaveras County
      • This Vallecito is located in Calaveras County and lies 705 miles [1,134.6 km]<1> to the west of the Vallecito that is located in La Plata County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calaveras County community of Vallecito.
      • San Diego County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in San Diego County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of Vallecito.
    • New Mexico
      • Taos County
      • This Vallecito is located in Taos County and lies 130 miles [209.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Vallecito that is located in La Plata County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Taos County community of Vallecito.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vallecito ...

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.

  • Carbon Junction
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Cascade
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Cascade is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Columbus
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Columbus is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
  • Florida
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Gem Village
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Grandview
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Grandview is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Logtown ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Logtown is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logtown
  • Rockwood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Trimble
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Trimble is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
  • Tuckerville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Tuckerville is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckerville

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

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

  • Durango, which is the Seat of La Plata County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Vallecito to Durango, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
  • Denver, which is the State Capital of Colorado, lies 214 miles [344.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,654 miles [2,661.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 65 days and walking would take 94 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,085 miles [11,402.2 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 7,849 miles [12,631.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,780 miles [9,302 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Vallecito) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Vallecito, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Vallecito 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 Vallecito. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3795, Longitude: -107.5819    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.232 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 326.804 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.592 degrees.