RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Cherokee County >> Sandy Springs >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Sandy Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sandy Springs and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Sandy Springs:
    • 34.073154, -85.498848
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Sandy Springs
  • 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 Cherokee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
    • Since Sandy Springs is near Floyd County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Floyd County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Sandy Springs

Communities Also Named Sandy Springs ...

We found nine communities that are also named Sandy Springs.

Within Alabama, the name Sandy Springs is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Grant County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Sandy Springs [Grant County].
    • Georgia
      • Fulton County
      • This Sandy Springs is located in Fulton County and lies 64 miles [103 km]<2> to the east of the Sandy Springs that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Sandy Springs.
    • Mississippi
      • Itawamba County
      • This Sandy Springs is located in Itawamba County and lies 166 miles [267.2 km]<2> to the west of the Sandy Springs that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Itawamba County community of Sandy Springs.
    • North Carolina
      • Polk County
      • This Sandy Springs is located in Polk County and lies 215 miles [346 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Sandy Springs that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Sandy Springs.
      • Wayne County
      • This Sandy Springs is located in Wayne County and lies 437 miles [703.3 km] to the east northeast of the Sandy Springs that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Sandy Springs.
    • Ohio
      • Adams County
      • This Sandy Springs is located in Adams County and lies 336 miles [540.7 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Sandy Springs that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Sandy Springs.
    • South Carolina
      • Anderson County
      • This Sandy Springs is located in Anderson County and lies 160 miles [257.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Sandy Springs that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of Sandy Springs.
      • Kershaw County
      • This Sandy Springs is located in Kershaw County and lies 279 miles [449 km] to the east of the Sandy Springs that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kershaw County community of Sandy Springs.
    • Tennessee
      • Robertson County
      • This Sandy Springs is located in Robertson County and lies 184 miles [296.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Sandy Springs that is located in Cherokee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Robertson County community of Sandy Springs.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sandy Springs ...

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.

  • Alexis
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Alexis is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexis
  • Bauxite
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bauxite is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bauxite
  • Fearing ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fearing is located in Polk County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fearing
  • Frog Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Frog Mountain is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Mountain
  • Key
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Key is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Key
  • Noah
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Noah is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noah
  • Pleasant Gap
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Gap is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Gap
  • Pope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pope is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope
  • Prior
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Prior is located in Polk County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prior
  • Rock Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rock Run is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Run
  • Rock Run Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Rock Run Station is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Run Station
  • Spring Garden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Spring Garden is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
  • Tucker Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Tucker Crossroads is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Crossroads

How Far From Sandy Springs 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 Sandy Springs to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sandy Springs and extending to:

  • Centre, which is the Seat of Cherokee County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sandy Springs to Centre, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 125 miles [201.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 575 miles [925.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,471 miles [10,414.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,178 miles [11,551.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,055 miles [8,135.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 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 Sandy Springs 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sandy Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Sandy Springs to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sandy Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0732, Longitude: -85.4988       In this case, the coordinates for Sandy Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.926 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.498 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.65 degrees.