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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Zuni, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Zuni 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 Zuni:
    • 35.534189, -108.636470
    • 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 Zuni
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McKinley County
    • Since Zuni is near Cibola County and also San Juan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cibola County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Juan 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 Zuni

Communities Also Named Zuni ...

We found four communities that are also named Zuni.

There is one other community in New Mexico that is also named Zuni.

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

  • Communities Located In New Mexico ...
    • Dona Ana County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Zuni [Dona Ana County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Calhoun County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Zuni [Calhoun County].
    • Colorado
      • Adams County
      • This Zuni is located in Adams County and lies 354 miles [569.7 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Zuni that is located in McKinley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Zuni.
    • Virginia
      • Isle of Wight County
      • This Zuni is located in Isle of Wight County and lies 1,766 miles [2,842.1 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Zuni that is located in McKinley County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Isle of Wight County community of Zuni.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Zuni ...

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
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Bread Springs is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bread Springs
  • Defiance
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Defiance is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
  • Heaton ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Heaton is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heaton
  • Merrill Place
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Merrill Place is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill Place
  • Red Rock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Red Rock is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
  • Rock Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Rock Springs is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
  • Sundance
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Sundance is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sundance
  • Twin Buttes
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Twin Buttes is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Buttes
  • Twin Lakes
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Twin Lakes is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
  • Weaver ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Weaver is located in McKinley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver

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

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

  • Gallup, which is the Seat of McKinley County, lies just to the West.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 150 miles [241.4 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Zuni to Santa Fe, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,744 miles [2,806.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 69 days and walking would take 99 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,225 miles [11,627.5 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 7,987 miles [12,853.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,915 miles [9,519.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Zuni 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.
<2>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 Zuni, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Zuni) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Zuni 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 Zuni. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5342, Longitude: -108.6365       In this case, the coordinates for Zuni have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.80 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.296 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.268 degrees.