Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in San Rafael, we use the following websites to find information relevant to San Rafael and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for San Rafael
- 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 San Rafael:
- 35.113575, -107.882365
- 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 San Rafael
- 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 Cibola County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cibola County
- Since San Rafael 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 San Rafael ...
We found four communities that share the name San Rafael.
There is one other community in New Mexico which is also named San Rafael.
Beyond New Mexico, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In New Mexico ...
- San Miguel County
- This San Rafael is located in San Miguel County and lies 194 miles [312.2 km]<1> to the east of the San Rafael that is located in Cibola County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Miguel County community of San Rafael.
- San Miguel County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Pima County
- This San Rafael is located in Pima County and lies 333 miles [535.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the San Rafael that is located in Cibola County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pima County community of San Rafael.
- California
- Marin County
- This San Rafael is located in Marin County and lies 835 miles [1,343.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the San Rafael that is located in Cibola County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marin County community of San Rafael.
- Colorado
- Conejos County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of San Rafael [Conejos County].
- Arizona
Curious and Interesting Names Near San Rafael ...
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.
- Alaska
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east) - Bluewater ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Budville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east) - Casa Blanca
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Blanca
- Casa Blanca is located in Cibola County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casa Blanca <4>
- Grants
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grants
- Grants is located in Cibola County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,835 people
- Former name for Grants:
- Grants Station
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grants <4>
- Harrisburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- Harrisburg is located in Cibola County
- Sand Corner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Corner
- Sand Corner is located in Cibola County
- Thoreau
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thoreau
- Thoreau is located in McKinley County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thoreau <4>
How Far From San Rafael 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 San Rafael to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in San Rafael and extending to:
- Grants, which is the Seat of Cibola County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from San Rafael to Santa Fe, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,712 miles [2,755.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 67 days and walking would take 98 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,227 miles [11,630.7 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 7,988 miles [12,855.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,910 miles [9,511.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for San Rafael. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- San Rafael) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Rafael. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1136, Longitude: -107.8824 |
| <2> | 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 San Rafael 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. |
| <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> | 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 San Rafael 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 328.17 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 326.502 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.889 degrees. |