Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sands, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sands and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sands
- 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 Sands:
- 41.751141, -89.862058
- 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 Sands
- 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 Whiteside County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Whiteside County
- Since Sands is near Bureau County and also Lee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Bureau County
- eBird sighting report for Lee 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 Sands ...
We found ten communities that share the name Sands.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Sands.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Kalkaska 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 Michigan community of Sands [Kalkaska County].
- Marquette County
- This Sands is located in Marquette County and lies 344 miles [553.6 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Sands that is located in Whiteside County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marquette County community of Sands.
- Missouri
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sands ...
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.
- Leon Corners
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leon Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon Corners
- Leon Corners is located in Whiteside County
- Love
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Mineral Springs ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Mineral Springs is located in Whiteside County
- Oliver
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Prophetstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prophetstown
- Prophetstown is located in Whiteside County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,919 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prophetstown <5>
- Rock Falls
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Falls
- Rock Falls is located in Whiteside County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,648 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rock Falls <5>
- Round Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Grove
- Round Grove is located in Whiteside County
- Union Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Union Grove is located in Whiteside County
- Unionville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Whiteside County
- Ustick
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - White Pigeon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Pigeon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Pigeon
- White Pigeon is located in Whiteside County
How Far From Sands to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sands to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sands and extending to:
- Morrison, which is the Seat of Whiteside County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Sands to Springfield, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 702 miles [1,129.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,269 miles [10,089 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,012 miles [11,284.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,899 miles [7,884.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sands. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Whiteside County: www.whiteside.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Sands 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sands) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sands. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7511, Longitude: -89.8621 In this case, the coordinates for Sands have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Sands, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Sands to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.925 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.014 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.713 degrees. |