RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New Mexico >> Dona Ana County >> Chaparral >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Chaparral, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chaparral 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 Chaparral:
    • 32.035101, -106.418321
    • 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 Chaparral
  • 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 Dona Ana County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dona Ana County
    • Since Chaparral is near Otero County and also El Paso County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Otero County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for El Paso 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 Chaparral

Communities Also Named Chaparral ...

We found two communities that are also named Chaparral.

Within New Mexico, the name Chaparral is unique.

Beyond New Mexico, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Maricopa County
      • This Chaparral is located in Maricopa County and lies 352 miles [566.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Chaparral that is located in Dona Ana County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of Chaparral.
      • Yavapai County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Yavapai County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yavapai County community of Chaparral.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Chaparral ...

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.

  • Anthony
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Borderland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Borderland is located in El Paso County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borderland
  • Fort Bliss
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Fort Bliss is located in El Paso County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Bliss
  • Green Acres
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Acres is located in El Paso County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
    • Green Acres has also been known as:
    • Green Acres Colonia
  • Mesquite
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Mission Hills
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Mission Hills is located in El Paso County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
  • Mountain View
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Mountain View is located in El Paso County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Orange
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Orange is located in Dona Ana County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
  • Planeport
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Planeport is located in El Paso County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Planeport
  • Smelter Town
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Smelter Town is located in El Paso County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smelter Town

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

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

  • Las Cruces, which is the Seat of Dona Ana County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Chaparral to Las Cruces, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 252 miles [405.6 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,710 miles [2,752 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 67 days and walking would take 98 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,361 miles [11,846.4 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 8,116 miles [13,061.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,018 miles [9,685 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Chaparral) 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 Chaparral, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Chaparral 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 Chaparral. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0351, Longitude: -106.4183       In this case, the coordinates for Chaparral have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.607 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.312 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.264 degrees.