RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> El Dorado County >> Spanish Flat >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Spanish Flat, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spanish Flat 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 Spanish Flat:
    • 38.823235, -120.809379
    • 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 Spanish Flat
  • 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 El Dorado County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for El Dorado County
    • Since Spanish Flat is near Placer County and also Nevada County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Placer County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Spanish Flat

Communities Also Named Spanish Flat ...

We found one communities that are also named Spanish Flat.

There is one other community in California that is also named Spanish Flat.

Beyond California.

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Napa County
      • This Spanish Flat is located in Napa County and lies 78 miles [125.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Spanish Flat that is located in El Dorado County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Napa County community of Spanish Flat.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Spanish Flat ...

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.

  • Apex
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Apex is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
  • Buckeye
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Buckeye is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Cold Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cold Springs is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Deer View
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Deer View is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer View
  • Five Mile Terrace
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Five Mile Terrace is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Mile Terrace
  • Garden Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Georgetown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Gold Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gold Hill is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
  • Gold Trail Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gold Trail Park is located in El Dorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Trail Park
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Greenwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lotus
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Meadow Brook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Meadow Brook is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Brook
    • Motor City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Motor City is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motor City
    • Perks Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Perks Corner is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perks Corner
    • Soapweed
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Soapweed is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soapweed

How Far From Spanish Flat 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 Spanish Flat to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Placerville, which is the Seat of El Dorado County, lies just to the South.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Spanish Flat to Sacramento, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,330 miles [3,749.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 133 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,317 miles [11,775.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,084 miles [13,009.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,130 miles [9,865.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Spanish Flat) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Spanish Flat 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 Spanish Flat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8232, Longitude: -120.8094       In this case, the coordinates for Spanish Flat have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.961 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.716 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.172 degrees.