RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Carolina >> Pickens County >> Monte Vista >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Monte Vista, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Monte Vista and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Monte Vista:
    • 34.847338, -82.623743
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Monte Vista
  • 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 Pickens County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pickens County
    • Since Monte Vista is near Greenville County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greenville County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anderson 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Monte Vista

Communities Also Named Monte Vista ...

We found eight communities that are also named Monte Vista.

Within South Carolina, the name Monte Vista is unique.

Beyond South Carolina, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Etowah County
      • This Monte Vista is located in Etowah County and lies 200 miles [321.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Monte Vista that is located in Pickens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Etowah County community of Monte Vista.
      • Tuscaloosa County
      • This Monte Vista is located in Tuscaloosa County and lies 301 miles [484.4 km] to the west southwest of the Monte Vista that is located in Pickens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscaloosa County community of Monte Vista.
    • California
      • Placer County
      • This Monte Vista is located in Placer County and lies 2,112 miles [3,398.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Monte Vista that is located in Pickens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Placer County community of Monte Vista.
      • Santa Clara 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 California community of Monte Vista [Santa Clara County].
    • Colorado
      • Rio Grande County
      • This Monte Vista is located in Rio Grande County and lies 1,320 miles [2,124.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Monte Vista that is located in Pickens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rio Grande County community of Monte Vista.
    • Florida
      • Lake 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 Florida community of Monte Vista [Lake County].
    • Utah
      • Weber County
      • This Monte Vista is located in Weber County and lies 1,645 miles [2,647.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Monte Vista that is located in Pickens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weber County community of Monte Vista.
    • Virginia
      • Roanoke City
      • This Monte Vista is located in Roanoke City and lies 223 miles [358.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Monte Vista that is located in Pickens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke City community of Monte Vista.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Monte Vista ...

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.

  • Beverly
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Beverly is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
  • Cedar Rock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Rock is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rock
  • Cherokee Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Cherokee Forest is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Forest
  • Heathwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Heathwood is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heathwood
  • Holly Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Holly Hill is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hill
  • Kingsberry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kingsberry is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsberry
  • Longcreek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Longcreek is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longcreek
  • Marshall Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Marshall Heights is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Heights
  • Pageland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pageland is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pageland
  • Pickensville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pickensville is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickensville
  • Twinbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Twinbrook is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twinbrook
  • Vista Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Vista Heights is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista Heights
  • Whispering Pines
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Whispering Pines is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines

How Far From Monte Vista 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 Monte Vista to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Monte Vista and extending to:

  • Pickens, which is the Seat of Pickens County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 107 miles [172.2 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Monte Vista to Columbia, with an average speed<3>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 416 miles [669.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,313 miles [10,159.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,016 miles [11,291.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,894 miles [7,876.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Monte Vista) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Monte Vista 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>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.
<4>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 Monte Vista to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Monte Vista. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8473, Longitude: -82.6237       In this case, the coordinates for Monte Vista have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.253 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.682 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.311 degrees.