Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in American Fork, we use the following websites to find information relevant to American Fork and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for American Fork
- 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 American Fork:
- 40.376767, -111.795924
- 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 American Fork
- 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 Utah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Utah County
- Since American Fork is near Salt Lake County and also Weber County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Salt Lake County
- eBird sighting report for Weber 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near American Fork ...
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.
- Alpine
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Alpine is located in Utah County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,495 people
- Former names for Alpine:
- Dry Creek Settlement
- Fort Wordsworth
- Mountainville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpine <1>
- Bunker
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker
- Bunker is located in Utah County
- Christmas City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christmas City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christmas City
- Christmas City is located in Utah County
- Geneva ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Hardy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Highland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Highland is located in Utah County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,241 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Highland <1>
- Pelican Point ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pelican Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelican Point
- Pelican Point is located in Utah County
- Pleasant Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Utah County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 38,241 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant Grove <1>
- Snow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Vineyard
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Wicks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Wing
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
How Far From American Fork 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 city such as American Fork to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in American Fork and extending to:
- Provo, which is the Seat of Utah County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from American Fork to Provo, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Salt Lake City, which is the State Capital of Utah, lies 27 miles [43.5 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,839 miles [2,959.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of three days, a buggy would take 72 days and walking would take 105 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,019 miles [11,296 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 7,788 miles [12,533.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,764 miles [9,276.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for American Fork: www.afcity.com/
The official website for Utah County: www.co.utah.ut.us/
The official website for State of Utah: https://www.utah.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- American Fork) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in American Fork. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3768, Longitude: -111.7959 |
| <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 American Fork 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 331.813 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 331.32 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.74 degrees. |