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:
- 36.250996, -81.648099
- 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 Watauga County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Watauga County
- Since Sands is near Ashe County and also Caldwell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ashe County
- eBird sighting report for Caldwell 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.
Within North Carolina, the name Sands is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Tazewell 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 Illinois community of Sands [Tazewell County].
- Whiteside County
- This Sands is located in Whiteside County and lies 581 miles [935 km]<1> to the northwest of the Sands that is located in Watauga County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Whiteside County community of Sands.
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Kalkaska 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 Michigan community of Sands [Kalkaska County].
- Marquette County
- This Sands is located in Marquette County and lies 762 miles [1,226.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Sands that is located in Watauga County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marquette County community of Sands.
- Missouri
- New Mexico
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.
- Bamboo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamboo
- Bamboo is located in Watauga County
- Grave Yard ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grave Yard have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grave Yard
- Grave Yard is located in Watauga County
- Hillcrest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Meat Camp
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Oak Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Poplar Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
- Poplar Grove is located in Watauga County
- Soda Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Solo
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
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:
- Boone, which is the Seat of Watauga County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 171 miles [275.2 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Sands to Raleigh, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 311 miles [500.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,208 miles [9,990.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,914 miles [11,127 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,791 miles [7,710.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
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 Watauga County: www.wataugacounty.org/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn 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: 36.2510, Longitude: -81.6481 In this case, the coordinates for Sands 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 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. |
| <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 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 Sands 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 310.692 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.241 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.52 degrees. |