Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tekapo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tekapo and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Tekapo

• 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 Tekapo:
  • 35.021977, -108.942862
  • 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 Tekapo

• 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 Tekapo is near Cibola County and also Apache County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • eBird sighting report for Cibola County
  • eBird sighting report for Apache 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 Tekapo ...

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
  (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bread Springs
  • Bread Springs is located in McKinley County
• Chambers
  (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers
  • Chambers is located in Apache County (AZ)
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chambers <1>
• Fence Lake
  (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fence Lake
  • Fence Lake is located in Cibola County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fence Lake <1>

How Far From Tekapo to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Tekapo to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Tekapo and extending to:

• Gallup, which is the Seat of McKinley County, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Tekapo to Gallup, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
• Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 174 miles [280 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,771 miles [2,850.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 70 days and walking would take 101 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,264 miles [11,690.3 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 8,026 miles [12,916.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,954 miles [9,582 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Tekapo. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for McKinley County: www.co.mckinley.nm.us/

The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/