Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sunlight, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sunlight and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sunlight
- 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 Sunlight:
- 45.899927, -112.017491
- 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 Sunlight
- 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since Sunlight is near Madison County and also Gallatin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Madison County
- eBird sighting report for Gallatin 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 Sunlight ...
We found five communities that share the name Sunlight.
Within Montana, the name Sunlight is unique.
Beyond Montana, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Missouri
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sunlight ...
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.
- Big Foot ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest) - Cedric
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest) - Grace
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest) - Mammoth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth
- Mammoth is located in Madison County
- Paul Place
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paul Place have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paul Place
- Paul Place is located in Jefferson County
- Pipestone
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Pipestone Hot Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipestone Hot Springs
- Pipestone Hot Springs is located in Jefferson County
- Pony ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pony
- Pony is located in Madison County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pony <5>
- Strawberry ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Strawberry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
- Strawberry is located in Madison County
- Stringtown ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stringtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Stringtown is located in Madison County
- Summit Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Valley
- Summit Valley is located in Madison County
- Valley ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Sunlight 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 Sunlight to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sunlight and extending to:
- Boulder, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Sunlight to Boulder, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the north (N). 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 1,831 miles [2,946.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 72 days and walking would take 104 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,687 miles [10,761.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,456 miles [11,999.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,472 miles [8,806.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sunlight. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jefferson County: www.co.jefferson.mt.us/
The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sunlight) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sunlight. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.8999, Longitude: -112.0175 In this case, the coordinates for Sunlight have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Sunlight, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Sunlight 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. |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Sunlight to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 332.409 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 332.493 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.351 degrees. |