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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Solo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Solo 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 Solo:
    • 36.339188, -105.951130
    • 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 Solo
  • 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 Taos County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Taos County
    • Since Solo is near Rio Arriba County and also Santa Fe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rio Arriba County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Fe 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 Solo

Communities Also Named Solo ...

We found six communities that are also named Solo.

Within New Mexico, the name Solo is unique.

Beyond New Mexico, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Pope County
      • This Solo is located in Pope County and lies 727 miles [1,170 km]<1> to the east of the Solo that is located in Taos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pope County community of Solo.
    • Georgia
      • Forsyth 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 Georgia community of Solo [Forsyth County].
    • Missouri
      • Texas County
      • This Solo is located in Texas County and lies 775 miles [1,247.2 km]<1> to the east of the Solo that is located in Taos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Texas County community of Solo.
    • North Carolina
      • Watauga County
      • This Solo is located in Watauga County and lies 1,350 miles [2,172.6 km]<1> to the east of the Solo that is located in Taos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Watauga County community of Solo.
    • Tennessee
      • Tipton County
      • This Solo is located in Tipton County and lies 914 miles [1,470.9 km]<1> to the east of the Solo that is located in Taos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tipton County community of Solo.
    • Texas
      • Ector 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 Texas community of Solo [Ector County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Solo ...

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.

  • Carson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Chili
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Chili is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chili
  • Clara Peak
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Clara Peak is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara Peak
  • Frijoles Spring
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Frijoles Spring is located in Rio Arriba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frijoles Spring
  • Kiowa Village
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Kiowa Village is located in Taos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiowa Village
  • Lobo ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lobo is located in Taos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lobo
  • Pilar
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pot Creek
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Pot Creek is located in Taos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pot Creek
  • Rock Wall
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rock Wall is located in Taos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Wall
  • Shady Brook
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Shady Brook is located in Taos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Brook

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

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

  • Taos, which is the Seat of Taos County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Solo to Taos, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 45 miles [72.4 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,584 miles [2,549.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 62 days and walking would take 90 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,098 miles [11,423.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,858 miles [12,646.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,776 miles [9,295.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Solo) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Solo 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Solo 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 Solo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3392, Longitude: -105.9511       In this case, the coordinates for Solo have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.88 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 325.094 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.798 degrees.