Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Kirtland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Kirtland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Kirtland
- 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 Kirtland:
- 36.734168, -108.359801
- 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 Kirtland
- 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 Kirtland is near La Plata County and also Montezuma County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for La Plata County
- eBird sighting report for Montezuma 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 Kirtland ...
We found three communities that share the name Kirtland.
Within New Mexico, the name Kirtland is unique.
Beyond New Mexico, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Kirtland ...
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
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- 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 <3>
- Cottonwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Cottonwood is located in San Juan County
- Flora Vista
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flora Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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 <3>
- Fruitland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
- Fruitland is located in San Juan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitland <3>
- Inca
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast) - Rattlesnake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rattlesnake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rattlesnake
- Rattlesnake is located in San Juan County
- Redmesa
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north) - Shiprock
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiprock
- Shiprock is located in San Juan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shiprock <3>
- Upper Fruitland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Fruitland
- Upper Fruitland is located in San Juan County
How Far From Kirtland to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Kirtland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Kirtland and extending to:
- Aztec, which is the Seat of San Juan County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Kirtland to Aztec, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 152 miles [244.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,706 miles [2,745.5 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 7,146 miles [11,500.4 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 7,909 miles [12,728.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,842 miles [9,401.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Kirtland. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 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 Kirtland 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Kirtland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kirtland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7342, Longitude: -108.3598 In this case, the coordinates for Kirtland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Kirtland 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 328.745 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.349 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.054 degrees. |