Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shands, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shands and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shands
- 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 Shands:
- 39.425176, -120.780775
- 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 Shands
- 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 Nevada County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Nevada County
- Since Shands is near Sierra County and also Shasta County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Sierra County
- eBird sighting report for Shasta 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 Shands ...
We found two communities that share the name Shands.
Within California, the name Shands is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Ontario
- This Shands lies 2,088 miles [3,360.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Shands that is located in Nevada County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shands ...
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.
- Alpha ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - American Hill ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for American Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for American Hill
- American Hill is located in Sierra County
- Centerville ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Sierra County
- Forest
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
- Forest is located in Sierra County
- Graniteville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
- Graniteville is located in Nevada County
- Marsh Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Mill
- Marsh Mill is located in Nevada County
- Minnesota Flat
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minnesota Flat have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnesota Flat
- Minnesota Flat is located in Sierra County
- Relief
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Snow Point ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snow Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Point
- Snow Point is located in Nevada County
- Snow Tent ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Unionville ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Sierra County
How Far From Shands to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Shands 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<4> community of Shands once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Shands and extending to:
- Nevada City, which is the Seat of Nevada County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shands to Nevada City, 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 five to six hours.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 69 miles [111 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,318 miles [3,730.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,277 miles [11,711.2 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 8,044 miles [12,945.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,094 miles [9,807.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Nevada County: www.new.mynevadacounty.com/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.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 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 Shands 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Shands) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shands. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4252, Longitude: -120.7808 In this case, the coordinates for Shands have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | 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 Shands, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Shands 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 338.997 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.792 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.146 degrees. |