Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in San Juan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to San Juan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for San Juan
- 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 San Juan:
- 26.416452, -98.944196
- 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 San Juan
- 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 Starr County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Starr County
- Since San Juan is near Zapata County and also Hidalgo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Zapata County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named San Juan ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name San Juan.
There are two communities within Texas that are also named San Juan.
Beyond Texas, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- Hidalgo County
- Nueces County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alaska
- California
- Los Angeles 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 California community of San Juan [Los Angeles County].
- Sacramento County
- This San Juan is located in Sacramento County and lies 1,541 miles [2,480 km]<1> to the northwest of the San Juan that is located in Starr County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sacramento County community of San Juan.
- San Benito County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of San Juan [San Benito County].
- Colorado
- Hinsdale 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 Colorado community of San Juan [Hinsdale County].
- Las Animas County
- Although located in Las Animas County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Las Animas County community of San Juan.
- Nevada
- Lander County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Lander County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lander County community of San Juan.
- Nye County
- This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of San Juan [Nye County].
- New Mexico
- Grant County
- This San Juan is located in Grant County and lies 693 miles [1,115.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the San Juan that is located in Starr County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of San Juan.
- Rio Arriba County
- This San Juan is located in Rio Arriba County and lies 786 miles [1,264.9 km] to the north northwest of the San Juan that is located in Starr County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rio Arriba County community of San Juan.
- San Miguel County
- This San Juan is located in San Miguel County and lies 712 miles [1,145.9 km] to the north northwest of the San Juan that is located in Starr County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Miguel County community of San Juan.
- Valencia County
- Although located in Valencia County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Valencia County community of San Juan.
Curious and Interesting Names Near San Juan ...
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 Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Airport Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Heights
- Airport Heights is located in Starr County
- Evergreen
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Hackberry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Hilltop
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Joseph Griggs Colonia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joseph Griggs Colonia have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Griggs Colonia
- Joseph Griggs Colonia is located in Starr County
- Margarita
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Mitchell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Salmon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Sunset
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
How Far From San Juan 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 San Juan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in San Juan and extending to:
- Rio Grande City, which is the Seat of Starr County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 275 miles [442.6 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from San Juan to Austin, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,531 miles [2,463.9 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 7,404 miles [11,915.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,125 miles [13,075.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,001 miles [9,657.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for San Juan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- San Juan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Juan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.4165, Longitude: -98.9442 In this case, the coordinates for San Juan 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 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 San Juan 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 San Juan, 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 San Juan 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 320.334 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.146 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.053 degrees. |