RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New Mexico >> Sandoval County >> La Jara >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in La Jara, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Jara and the surrounding area.

  • 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 La Jara:
    • 36.087514, -106.974770
    • 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 La Jara
  • 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 Sandoval County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sandoval County
    • Since La Jara is near Rio Arriba County and also McKinley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rio Arriba County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McKinley 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 La Jara

Communities Also Named La Jara ...

We found two communities that are also named La Jara.

There is one other community in New Mexico that is also named La Jara.

Beyond New Mexico, there is another community also named La Jara in the United States.

  • Communities Located In New Mexico ...
    • Mora County
      • This La Jara is located in Mora County and lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<1> to the east of the La Jara that is located in Sandoval County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mora County community of La Jara.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Conejos County
      • This La Jara is located in Conejos County and lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the La Jara that is located in Sandoval County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Conejos County community of La Jara.

Curious and Interesting Names Near La Jara ...

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.

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

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

  • Bernalillo, which is the Seat of Sandoval County, lies 58 miles [93.3 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from La Jara to Bernalillo, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 63 miles [101.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,644 miles [2,645.8 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 7,143 miles [11,495.5 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 7,904 miles [12,720.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,826 miles [9,376 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- La Jara) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 La Jara 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 La Jara. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0875, Longitude: -106.9748    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 327.615 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 325.94 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.354 degrees.