Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Grand Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grand Island and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Grand Island
- 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 Grand Island:
- 39.066005, -121.868302
- 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 Grand Island
- 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 Colusa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Colusa County
- Since Grand Island is near Sutter County and also Yolo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Sutter County
- eBird sighting report for Yolo 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 Grand Island ...
We found four communities that share the name Grand Island.
Within California, the name Grand Island is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Boulder County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Grand Island [Boulder County].
- Florida
- Lake County
- This Grand Island is located in Lake County and lies 2,382 miles [3,833.5 km]<2> to the east of the Grand Island that is located in Colusa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Grand Island.
- Nebraska
- Hall County
- This Grand Island is located in Hall County and lies 1,246 miles [2,005.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Grand Island that is located in Colusa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hall County community of Grand Island.
- New York
- Erie County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Grand Island [Erie County].
- Colorado
Curious and Interesting Names Near Grand Island ...
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.
- College City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College City
- College City is located in Colusa County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for College City <4>
- Everglade
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Joesphine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Lira
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Meridian
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
- Meridian is located in Sutter County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meridian <4>
- Moons Ferry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moons Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moons Ferry
- Moons Ferry is located in Sutter County
- Prize ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Progress
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
How Far From Grand Island 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 Grand Island to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Grand Island and extending to:
- Colusa, which is the Seat of Colusa County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Grand Island to Colusa, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 39 miles [62.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,381 miles [3,831.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 136 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,321 miles [11,782 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,087 miles [13,014.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,146 miles [9,891 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Grand Island. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Colusa County: www.colusacountyclerk.com/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Grand Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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- Grand Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grand Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0660, Longitude: -121.8683 In this case, the coordinates for Grand Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Grand Island 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Grand Island to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.872 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.82 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.821 degrees. |