Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McGaffey, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McGaffey and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McGaffey
- 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 McGaffey:
- 35.375304, -108.515633
- 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 McGaffey
- 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 McKinley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McKinley County
- Since McGaffey is near Cibola County and also San Juan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cibola County
- eBird sighting report for San Juan 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near McGaffey ...
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.
- Bread Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bread Springs
- Bread Springs is located in McKinley County
- Continental Divide
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Continental Divide
- Continental Divide is located in McKinley County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Continental Divide <1>
- Heaton ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest) - Merrill Place
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrill Place have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill Place
- Merrill Place is located in McKinley County
- Page
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Red Rock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
- Red Rock is located in McKinley County
- Sundance
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Thoreau
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thoreau
- Thoreau is located in McKinley County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thoreau <1>
- Weaver ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
How Far From McGaffey 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 McGaffey 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<3> community of McGaffey once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in McGaffey and extending to:
- Gallup, which is the Seat of McKinley County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<4> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from McGaffey to Gallup, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 145 miles [233.4 km] to the east (E). 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 1,741 miles [2,801.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 68 days and walking would take 99 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,230 miles [11,635.6 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 7,993 miles [12,863.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,920 miles [9,527.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for McKinley County: www.co.mckinley.nm.us/
The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 McGaffey, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- McGaffey) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McGaffey. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3753, Longitude: -108.5156 In this case, the coordinates for McGaffey have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 McGaffey 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 328.687 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.145 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.212 degrees. |