Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Garden Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Garden Ridge and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Garden Ridge
- 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 Garden Ridge:
- 29.635322, -98.304477
- 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 Garden Ridge
- 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 Comal County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Comal County
- Since Garden Ridge is near Bexar County and also Guadalupe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Bexar County
- eBird sighting report for Guadalupe 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Garden Ridge ...
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.
- Airport City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Airport City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport City
- Airport City is located in Bexar County
- Bracken
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bracken
- Bracken is located in Comal County
- Converse
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Converse have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Converse
- Converse is located in Bexar County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,814 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Converse <2>
- Friendly Corner
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendly Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendly Corner
- Friendly Corner is located in Bexar County
- Live Oak
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Live Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Live Oak
- Live Oak is located in Bexar County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,661 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Live Oak <2>
- Longhorn
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Marion
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marion have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
- Marion is located in Guadalupe County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,281 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marion <2>
- Shorts Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shorts Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Corner
- Shorts Corner is located in Bexar County
- Universal City
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Universal City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Universal City
- Universal City is located in Bexar County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21,007 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Universal City <2>
How Far From Garden Ridge 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 Garden Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Garden Ridge and extending to:
- New Braunfels, which is the Seat of Comal County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Garden Ridge to New Braunfels, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 55 miles [88.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,367 miles [2,200 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 54 days and walking would take 78 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,208 miles [11,600.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,937 miles [12,773.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,814 miles [9,356.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Garden Ridge: www.ci.garden-ridge.tx.us/
The official website for Comal County: www.co.comal.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Garden Ridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Garden Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.6353, Longitude: -98.3045 |
| <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 Garden Ridge to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.491 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.74 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.609 degrees. |