Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in The Dunes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Dunes and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for The Dunes
- 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 The Dunes:
- 33.760728, -78.802522
- 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 The Dunes
- 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 Horry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Horry County
- Since The Dunes is near Brunswick County and also Columbus County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Brunswick County
- eBird sighting report for Columbus 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 The Dunes ...
We found four communities that share the name The Dunes.
There is one other community in South Carolina which is also named The Dunes.
Beyond South Carolina, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In South Carolina ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
Curious and Interesting Names Near The Dunes ...
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.
- Cane Patch
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cane Patch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Patch
- Cane Patch is located in Horry County
- Dunes Cove
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunes Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunes Cove
- Dunes Cove is located in Horry County
- Forest Dunes
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Dunes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Dunes
- Forest Dunes is located in Horry County
- Green Lakes
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lakes
- Green Lakes is located in Horry County
- Lake Shore
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Shore have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
- Lake Shore is located in Horry County
- Long Bay
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Ocean Forest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocean Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Forest
- Ocean Forest is located in Horry County
- Plantation Point
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plantation Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation Point
- Plantation Point is located in Horry County
- Skimmer Bay
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skimmer Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skimmer Bay
- Skimmer Bay is located in Horry County
How Far From The Dunes 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 The Dunes to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in The Dunes and extending to:
- Conway, which is the Seat of Horry County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from The Dunes to Conway, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 129 miles [207.6 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 368 miles [592.2 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,195 miles [9,969.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,881 miles [11,073.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,767 miles [7,671.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for The Dunes. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Horry County: www.horrycounty.org/
The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.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 The Dunes 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- The Dunes) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in The Dunes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7607, Longitude: -78.8025 In this case, the coordinates for The Dunes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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. |
| <5> | 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 The Dunes to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.07 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.018 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.175 degrees. |