Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sparkville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sparkville and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sparkville
- 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 Sparkville:
- 36.968005, -119.612084
- 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 Sparkville
- 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 Fresno County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fresno County
- Since Sparkville is near Madera County and also Nevada County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Madera County
- eBird sighting report for Nevada 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 Sparkville ...
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.
- Big Sandy Rancheria
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Sandy Rancheria have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sandy Rancheria
- Big Sandy Rancheria is located in Fresno County
- Gordon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
- Gordon is located in Fresno County
- Indian Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
- Indian Springs is located in Madera County
- Magnet ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Marshall Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshall Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Junction
- Marshall Junction is located in Fresno County
- Meadow Lakes
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lakes
- Meadow Lakes is located in Fresno County
- Melvin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Rolling Hills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolling Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
- Rolling Hills is located in Madera County
- Sentinel ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Tollhouse
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tollhouse
- Tollhouse is located in Fresno County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tollhouse <2>
How Far From Sparkville 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 Sparkville to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Sparkville once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Sparkville and extending to:
- Fresno, which is the Seat of Fresno County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<4> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sparkville to Fresno, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 151 miles [243 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,301 miles [3,703.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 131 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,412 miles [11,928.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,180 miles [13,164.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,201 miles [9,979.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Fresno County: www.co.fresno.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.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> | 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 Sparkville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Sparkville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sparkville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9680, Longitude: -119.6121 In this case, the coordinates for Sparkville 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 Sparkville 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 337.758 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.165 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.458 degrees. |