Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rancho Viejo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rancho Viejo and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rancho Viejo
- 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 Rancho Viejo:
- 26.037034, -97.557939
- 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 Rancho Viejo
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Cameron County
- Since Rancho Viejo is near Hidalgo County and also Willacy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- eBird sighting report for Willacy 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 Rancho Viejo ...
We found two communities that share the name Rancho Viejo.
There are two communities within Texas that are also named Rancho Viejo.
Beyond Texas.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- Galveston County
- This Rancho Viejo is located in Galveston County and lies 278 miles [447.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Rancho Viejo that is located in Cameron County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Galveston County community of Rancho Viejo.
- Jim Hogg County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Rancho Viejo [Jim Hogg County].
- Galveston County
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rancho Viejo ...
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
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Four Corners
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
- Four Corners is located in Cameron County
- Graham
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Green Valley Farms
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley Farms
- Green Valley Farms is located in Cameron County
- Green Valley Farms has also been known as:
- Green Valley Farms Colonia
- Illinois Heights
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Illinois Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinois Heights
- Illinois Heights is located in Cameron County
- Illinois Heights has also been known as:
- Illinois Heights Colonia
- Indian Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
- Indian Lake is located in Cameron County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
- Jaime Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jaime Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaime Lake
- Jaime Lake is located in Cameron County
- Jaime Lake has also been known as:
- Jaime Lake Colonia
- Rangerville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rangerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangerville
- Rangerville is located in Cameron County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 289 people
- Rangerville has also been known as:
- Rangerville Colonia
- Stardust
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
How Far From Rancho Viejo to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a town such as Rancho Viejo to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rancho Viejo and extending to:
- Brownsville, which is the Seat of Cameron County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rancho Viejo to Brownsville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 292 miles [469.9 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 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,483 miles [2,386.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 58 days and walking would take 85 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,369 miles [11,859.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,084 miles [13,009.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,959 miles [9,590.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rancho Viejo. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Cameron County: www.co.cameron.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Rancho Viejo) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rancho Viejo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.0370, Longitude: -97.5579 In this case, the coordinates for Rancho Viejo have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Rancho Viejo 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> | 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. |
| <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 Rancho Viejo 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 319.356 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.936 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.509 degrees. |