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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Playas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Playas 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 Playas:
    • 31.916760, -108.533660
    • 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 Playas
  • 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
    • Since Playas is near Grant County and also Luna County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grant County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Luna 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 Playas

Curious and Interesting Names Near Playas ...

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.

  • Antelope
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Antelope is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
  • Cedar Grove ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Luna County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Cotton City
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Cotton City is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton City
  • Double Adobes
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Double Adobes is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Adobes
  • Guess Place
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Guess Place is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guess Place
  • Jim Robinson
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jim Robinson is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jim Robinson
  • Mitchell Place
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Mitchell Place is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell Place
  • Pothook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Pothook is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pothook
  • Rock Cabin
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Rock Cabin is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Cabin
  • Spears
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Spears is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spears
  • Vista
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Vista is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
  • Windmill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Windmill is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windmill

How Far From Playas to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Playas 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<1> community of Playas once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Playas and extending to:

  • Lordsburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Playas to Lordsburg, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 298 miles [479.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,826 miles [2,938.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 72 days and walking would take 104 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,435 miles [11,965.5 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 8,193 miles [13,185.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,104 miles [9,823.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Playas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Playas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Playas 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 Playas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9168, Longitude: -108.5337       In this case, the coordinates for Playas have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.174 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 326.184 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.334 degrees.