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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for New Mexico





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Lake Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lake Valley 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 Lake Valley:
    • 36.091306, -108.156883
    • 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 Lake Valley
  • 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 Lake Valley is near McKinley County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • 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:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Lake Valley ...

We found seven communities that share the name Lake Valley.

There is one other community in New Mexico which is also named Lake Valley.

Beyond New Mexico, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In New Mexico ...
    • Sierra County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Lake Valley [Sierra County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • El Dorado County
      • This Lake Valley is located in El Dorado County and lies 677 miles [1,089.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Lake Valley that is located in San Juan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the El Dorado County community of Lake Valley.
    • Indiana
      • Morgan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Lake Valley [Morgan County].
    • North Carolina
      • Cumberland County
      • This Lake Valley is located in Cumberland County and lies 1,634 miles [2,629.7 km]<2> to the east of the Lake Valley that is located in San Juan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Lake Valley.
    • Oklahoma
      • Washita County
      • This Lake Valley is located in Washita County and lies 525 miles [844.9 km]<2> to the east of the Lake Valley that is located in San Juan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washita County community of Lake Valley.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Lake Valley lies 1,009 miles [1,623.8 km]<2> to the north of the Lake Valley that is located in San Juan County.
    • Tennessee
      • Putnam County
      • This Lake Valley is located in Putnam County and lies 1,264 miles [2,034.2 km]<2> to the east of the Lake Valley that is located in San Juan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Lake Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lake Valley ...

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.

  • Buffalo Springs
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
    • Buffalo Springs is located in McKinley County
  • Crownpoint
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Seven Lakes
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seven Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Lakes
    • Seven Lakes is located in McKinley County
  • Sheep Springs
    (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Shillingburg ‑ Historic
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shillingburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shillingburg
    • Shillingburg is located in San Juan County
  • Standing Rock
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Standing Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standing Rock
    • Standing Rock is located in McKinley County
  • Whitehorse
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehorse
    • Whitehorse is located in McKinley County

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

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

  • Aztec, which is the Seat of San Juan County, lies 51 miles [82.1 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Lake Valley to Aztec, with an average speed<6> 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 most of two days.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 126 miles [202.8 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 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,707 miles [2,747.2 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,178 miles [11,551.9 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 7,940 miles [12,778.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,869 miles [9,445.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lake Valley. 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>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 Lake Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lake Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0913, Longitude: -108.1569    
<3>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 Lake Valley 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.
<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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Lake Valley 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 328.509 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.004 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.983 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024