Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sandy Ford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sandy Ford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sandy Ford
- 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 Ford:
- 41.178368, -88.911744
- 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 Sandy Ford
- 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 La Salle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- Since Sandy Ford is near Livingston County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Livingston County
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Sandy Ford ...
We found two communities that share the name Sandy Ford.
Within Illinois, the name Sandy Ford is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Rabun County
- This Sandy Ford is located in Rabun County and lies 533 miles [857.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the Sandy Ford that is located in La Salle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rabun County community of Sandy Ford.
- Virginia
- Bedford County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Sandy Ford [Bedford County].
- Georgia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sandy Ford ...
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.
- Coalville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Farm Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farm Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farm Ridge
- Farm Ridge is located in La Salle County
- Grand Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Ridge
- Grand Ridge is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Ridge <4>
- Munster
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munster
- Munster is located in Livingston County
- Otter ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Reading
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Reed Crossing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reed Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Crossing
- Reed Crossing is located in La Salle County
- Richards
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Stoneyville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stoneyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoneyville
- Stoneyville is located in La Salle County
How Far From Sandy Ford 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 Ford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sandy Ford and extending to:
- Ottawa, which is the Seat of La Salle County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sandy Ford to Ottawa, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 103 miles [165.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 646 miles [1,039.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,263 miles [10,079.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,002 miles [11,268.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,886 miles [7,863.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sandy Ford. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for La Salle County: www.lasallecounty.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Sandy Ford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sandy Ford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1784, Longitude: -88.9117 In this case, the coordinates for Sandy Ford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Ford 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. |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Sandy Ford 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 315.284 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.201 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.394 degrees. |