Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ochoa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ochoa and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ochoa
- 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 Ochoa:
- 32.191792, -103.440194
- 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 Ochoa
- 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 Lea County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lea County
- Since Ochoa is near Otero County and also Eddy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Otero County
- eBird sighting report for Eddy 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 Ochoa ...
We found two communities that share the name Ochoa.
Within New Mexico, the name Ochoa is unique.
Beyond New Mexico, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ochoa ...
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.
- Cheyenne
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheyenne
- Cheyenne is located in Winkler County (TX)
- Cotton Place
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cotton Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Place
- Cotton Place is located in Lea County
- Halfway
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest) - Jones City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jones City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones City
- Jones City is located in Lea County
- Kermit
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kermit
- Kermit is located in Winkler County (TX)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,367 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kermit <4>
- Maypens
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maypens
- Maypens is located in Lea County
- Oil Center
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oil Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil Center
- Oil Center is located in Lea County
- Woody ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
How Far From Ochoa 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 Ochoa 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 community of Ochoa once stood, the straight-line distance<6> beginning in Ochoa and extending to:
- Lovington, which is the Seat of Lea County, lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<6> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Ochoa to Lovington, with an average speed<7> 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 280 miles [450.6 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,547 miles [2,489.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 61 days and walking would take 88 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,253 miles [11,672.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,002 miles [12,878 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,894 miles [9,485.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Lea County: www.leacounty.net/
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 Ochoa 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> | 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 Ochoa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ochoa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ochoa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1918, Longitude: -103.4402 In this case, the coordinates for Ochoa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Ochoa to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 324.459 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 321.762 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 317.797 degrees. |