Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in El Paso, we use the following websites to find information relevant to El Paso and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for El Paso
- 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 El Paso:
- 31.758607, -106.485785
- 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 El Paso
- 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 El Paso County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for El Paso County
- Since El Paso is near Dona Ana County and also Otero County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Dona Ana County
- eBird sighting report for Otero 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 El Paso ...
We found seven communities that share the name El Paso.
Within Texas, the name El Paso is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Atchison County
- Although located in Atchison County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Atchison County community of El Paso.
- Barry County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of El Paso [Barry County].
- North Carolina
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near El Paso ...
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.
- Alfalfa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Borderland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borderland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borderland
- Borderland is located in El Paso County
- Fort Bliss
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Bliss
- Fort Bliss is located in El Paso County
- Green Acres
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Green Acres is located in El Paso County
- Green Acres has also been known as:
- Green Acres Colonia
- Lizard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Mission Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
- Mission Hills is located in El Paso County
- Mountain View
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Mountain View is located in El Paso County
- Orange
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Planeport
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Smelter Town
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smelter Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smelter Town
- Smelter Town is located in El Paso County
How Far From El Paso 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 city such as El Paso to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in El Paso and extending to:
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 527 miles [848.1 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from El Paso to Austin, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 30 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 21 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,722 miles [2,771.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 68 days and walking would take 98 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,379 miles [11,875.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,133 miles [13,088.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,035 miles [9,712.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for El Paso: www.elpasotexas.gov/
The official website for El Paso County: www.epcounty.com/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- El Paso) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in El Paso. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.7586, Longitude: -106.4858 |
| <2> | 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 El Paso 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. |
| <3> | 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 El Paso, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 El Paso to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.612 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.288 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.306 degrees. |