Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alcatraz, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alcatraz and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alcatraz
- 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 Alcatraz:
- 36.756394, -107.757004
- 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 Alcatraz
- 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 San Juan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for San Juan County
- Since Alcatraz is near Rio Arriba County and also La Plata County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rio Arriba County
- eBird sighting report for La Plata 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
Communities Also Named Alcatraz ...
We found one communities that share the name Alcatraz.
Within New Mexico, the name Alcatraz is unique.
Beyond New Mexico, there is another community also named Alcatraz in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alcatraz ...
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.
- Aztec
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aztec
- Aztec is located in San Juan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,332 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aztec <2>
- Cedar Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Cedar Hill is located in San Juan County
- Christopher Place
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christopher Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christopher Place
- Christopher Place is located in San Juan County
- Fivemile Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fivemile Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivemile Crossing
- Fivemile Crossing is located in San Juan County
- Flora Vista
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flora Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora Vista
- Flora Vista is located in San Juan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flora Vista <2>
- Inca
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Navajo City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navajo City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo City
- Navajo City is located in Rio Arriba County
- Navajo Dam
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Dam
- Navajo Dam is located in San Juan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Navajo Dam <2>
How Far From Alcatraz 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 Alcatraz 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<4> community of Alcatraz once stood, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Alcatraz and extending to:
- Aztec, which is the Seat of San Juan County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<5> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alcatraz to Aztec, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 125 miles [201.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,674 miles [2,694 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 66 days and walking would take 96 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,127 miles [11,469.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,890 miles [12,697.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,819 miles [9,364.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for San Juan County: www.co.san-juan.nm.us/
The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/
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 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 Alcatraz 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Alcatraz, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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 from Point A (ie- Alcatraz) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alcatraz. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7564, Longitude: -107.7570 In this case, the coordinates for Alcatraz have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Alcatraz to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.29 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 326.81 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.728 degrees. |