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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Topaz Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Topaz Lake 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 Topaz Lake:
- 38.694971, -119.544829
- 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 Topaz Lake
- 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- Since Topaz Lake is near Mono County and also Alpine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mono County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Alpine 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 Topaz Lake
Curious and Interesting Names Near Topaz Lake ...
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.
- Centerville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Centerville is located in Alpine County (CA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Double Springs ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Double Springs is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Springs
- Fredericksburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Fredericksburg is located in Alpine County (CA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredericksburg
- Grays Crossing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Grays Crossing is located in Alpine County (CA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Crossing
- Mammoth Ledge ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mammoth Ledge is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth Ledge
- Mountain House ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Mountain House is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain House
- Silver Mountain ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Silver Mountain is located in Alpine County (CA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Mountain
- Sulfur
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Sulfur is located in Lyon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulfur
- Topaz
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
How Far From Topaz Lake 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 Topaz Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Topaz Lake and extending to:
- Minden, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Topaz Lake to Minden, with an average speed<3> 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.
- Carson City, which is the State Capital of Nevada, lies 35 miles [56.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,266 miles [3,646.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 89 days and walking would take 129 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,300 miles [11,748.2 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 8,068 miles [12,984.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,100 miles [9,817 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Topaz Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Topaz Lake 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 Topaz Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6950, Longitude: -119.5448 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.895 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.432 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.402 degrees. |
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