Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sandia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sandia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sandia
- 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 Sandia:
- 34.825332, -106.838640
- 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 Sandia
- 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 Valencia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Valencia County
- Since Sandia is near Bernalillo County and also Socorro County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Bernalillo County
- eBird sighting report for Socorro 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 Sandia ...
We found four communities that share the name Sandia.
There are two communities within New Mexico that are also named Sandia.
Beyond New Mexico, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In New Mexico ...
- Bernalillo County
- Santa Fe County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sandia ...
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.
- Comanche Springs
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Comanche Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Springs
- Comanche Springs is located in Valencia County
- Five Points
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Bernalillo County
- Fruitvale ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north) - Martinez Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martinez Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez Town
- Martinez Town is located in Bernalillo County
- Meadow Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lake
- Meadow Lake is located in Valencia County
- Mission Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Park
- Mission Park is located in Valencia County
- Mountainview
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountainview have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainview
- Mountainview is located in Bernalillo County
- Paradise Hills
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Hills
- Paradise Hills is located in Bernalillo County
How Far From Sandia 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 Sandia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sandia and extending to:
- Los Lunas, which is the Seat of Valencia County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<3> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from Sandia to Santa Fe, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,662 miles [2,674.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 65 days and walking would take 95 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,212 miles [11,606.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,972 miles [12,829.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,887 miles [9,474.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sandia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Valencia County: www.co.valencia.nm.us/
The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Sandia 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> | 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 Sandia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Sandia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sandia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8253, Longitude: -106.8386 In this case, the coordinates for Sandia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Sandia 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 327.344 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 325.487 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.358 degrees. |