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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Valdez, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Valdez 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 Valdez:
    • 36.534618, -105.583764
    • 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 Valdez
  • 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 Valdez is near Colfax County and also Rio Arriba County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colfax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rio Arriba 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 Valdez

Communities Also Named Valdez ...

We found four communities that are also named Valdez.

Within New Mexico, the name Valdez is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Valdez lies 2,444 miles [3,933.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Valdez that is located in Taos County.
    • California
      • Yolo County
      • This Valdez is located in Yolo County and lies 886 miles [1,425.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Valdez that is located in Taos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yolo County community of Valdez.
    • Colorado
      • Las Animas County
      • This Valdez is located in Las Animas County and lies 63 miles [101.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Valdez that is located in Taos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Las Animas County community of Valdez.
    • Florida
      • Volusia County
      • This Valdez is located in Volusia County and lies 1,501 miles [2,415.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Valdez that is located in Taos County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Volusia County community of Valdez.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Valdez ...

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.

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

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

  • Taos, which is the Seat of Taos County, lies just to the South.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Valdez to Santa Fe, with an average speed<3> 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 about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,561 miles [2,512.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of three days, a buggy would take 61 days and walking would take 89 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,075 miles [11,386.1 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 7,835 miles [12,609.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,752 miles [9,256.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Valdez) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Valdez 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 Valdez. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5346, Longitude: -105.5838    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.63 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.819 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.59 degrees.