RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Idaho >> Elmore County >> Spanish Town >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Spanish Town, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spanish Town 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 Town:
    • 43.709620, -115.255084
    • 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 Town
  • 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 Elmore County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elmore County
    • Since Spanish Town is near Boise County and also Blaine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Boise County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blaine 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 Town

Curious and Interesting Names Near Spanish Town ...

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.

  • Castle Rocks
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Castle Rocks is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rocks
  • Featherville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Featherville is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Featherville
  • Graham ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Graham is located in Boise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
  • Indian Head Rock
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Head Rock is located in Camas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head Rock
  • Paradise Hot Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Paradise Hot Springs is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Hot Springs
  • Prairie
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Prairie is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie
  • Rocky Bar ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rocky Bar is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Bar
  • Sawtooth City
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Sawtooth City is located in Blaine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawtooth City
  • Steamboat Rock
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Steamboat Rock is located in Elmore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steamboat Rock
  • Twin Springs
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Twin Springs is located in Boise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs

How Far From Spanish Town 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 Spanish Town 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<1> community of Spanish Town once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Spanish Town and extending to:

  • Mountain Home, which is the Seat of Elmore County, lies 45 miles [72.4 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Spanish Town to Mountain Home, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • Boise, which is the State Capital of Idaho, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,992 miles [3,205.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 78 days and walking would take 114 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,893 miles [11,093.2 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 7,662 miles [12,330.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,689 miles [9,155.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Spanish Town, 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- Spanish Town) 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 Spanish Town 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 Town. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7096, Longitude: -115.2551       In this case, the coordinates for Spanish Town have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 334.851 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.163 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 323.554 degrees.