RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Cameron County >> Arroyo Gardens >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Arroyo Gardens:
    • 26.225629, -97.493966
    • 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 Arroyo Gardens
  • 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 Cameron County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron County
    • Since Arroyo Gardens is near Willacy County and also Hidalgo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Willacy County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo 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 Arroyo Gardens

Curious and Interesting Names Near Arroyo Gardens ...

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.

  • Bishop
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bishop is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
    • Bishop has also been known as:
    • Bishop Colonia
  • Eggers
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Eggers is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eggers
    • Eggers has also been known as:
    • Eggers Colonia
  • Graham
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Graham is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
    • Graham has also been known as:
    • Graham Colonia
  • Green Valley Farms
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Valley Farms is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley Farms
    • Green Valley Farms has also been known as:
    • Green Valley Farms Colonia
  • Holly Beach
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Holly Beach is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Beach
  • Indian Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Indian Lake is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
  • Palm Valley
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Palm Valley is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
  • Rangerville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Rangerville is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangerville
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 289 people
    • Rangerville has also been known as:
    • Rangerville Colonia

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Arroyo Gardens and extending to:

  • Brownsville, which is the Seat of Cameron County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Arroyo Gardens to Brownsville, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 279 miles [449 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,471 miles [2,367.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 58 days and walking would take 84 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,356 miles [11,838.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,072 miles [12,990.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,947 miles [9,570.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Arroyo Gardens) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Arroyo Gardens 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 Arroyo Gardens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.2256, Longitude: -97.4940       In this case, the coordinates for Arroyo Gardens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.352 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.955 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.475 degrees.