Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shafter, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shafter and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shafter
- 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 Shafter:
- 40.854686, -114.443616
- 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 Shafter
- 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 Elko County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Elko County
- Since Shafter is near Tooele County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Tooele 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 Shafter ...
We found six communities that share the name Shafter.
Within Nevada, the name Shafter is unique.
Beyond Nevada, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Kern County
- This Shafter is located in Kern County and lies 453 miles [729 km]<1> to the southwest of the Shafter that is located in Elko County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Shafter.
- Marin County
- This Shafter is located in Marin County and lies 482 miles [775.7 km] to the west southwest of the Shafter that is located in Elko County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marin County community of Shafter.
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Texas
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shafter ...
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.
- Blair
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
- Blair is located in Tooele County (UT)
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Blair
- From Shafter to Blair
- Decoy ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Hogan ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hogan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogan
- Hogan is located in Elko County
- Hogan has also been known as:
- Hogen
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Hogan
- From Shafter to Hogan
- Oasis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
- Oasis is located in Elko County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oasis <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Oasis
- From Shafter to Oasis
- Pilot
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Sage
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Silver Zone ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Zone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Zone
- Silver Zone is located in Elko County
- Spruce ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spruce. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce
- Spruce is located in Elko County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Spruce
- From Shafter to Spruce
How Far From Shafter 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 Shafter to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Shafter once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Shafter and extending to:
- Elko, which is the Seat of Elko County, lies 69 miles [111 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Shafter to Elko, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- Carson City, which is the State Capital of Nevada, lies 304 miles [489.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,971 miles [3,172 km] to the east (E). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 77 days and walking would take 112 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,053 miles [11,350.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,822 miles [12,588.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,822 miles [9,369.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Elko County: www.elkocountynv.net/
The official website for State of Nevada: https://nv.gov/
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- Shafter) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shafter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8547, Longitude: -114.4436 In this case, the coordinates for Shafter have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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 Shafter, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Shafter to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 333.96 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 333.897 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 323.263 degrees. |