Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rancho, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rancho and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rancho
- 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:
- 26.306459, -98.556411
- 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
- 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- Since Rancho is near Starr County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Starr 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 ...
We found four communities that share the name Rancho.
There are two communities within Texas that are also named Rancho.
Beyond Texas, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- Gonzales County
- Wilson County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- New Mexico
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rancho ...
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.
- Chihuahua
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chihuahua
- Chihuahua is located in Hidalgo County
- Chihuahua has also been known as:
- Chihuahua Colonia
- Citrus City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Citrus City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus City
- Citrus City is located in Hidalgo County
- Crow
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Havana
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Havana is located in Hidalgo County
- Lakeview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Manuel Garcia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manuel Garcia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manuel Garcia
- Manuel Garcia is located in Starr County
- Manuel Garcia has also been known as:
- Manuel Garcia Colonia
- Mikes
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Ratcliff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
How Far From Rancho 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 community such as Rancho to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Rancho and extending to:
- Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<4> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Rancho to Edinburg, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days 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 277 miles [445.8 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 1,517 miles [2,441.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 87 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,395 miles [11,901.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,114 miles [13,058.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,989 miles [9,638.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rancho. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Rancho 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. |
| <2> | 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 Rancho, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | 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- Rancho) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rancho. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.3065, Longitude: -98.5564 In this case, the coordinates for Rancho have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Rancho 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 320.057 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.803 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.899 degrees. |