RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
Quarter for
Utah


The Commemorative Quarter for Utah







Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Moab:
    • 38.573317, -109.550775
    • 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 Moab
  • 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 Grand County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • eBird sighting report for Grand County
    • Since Moab is near San Juan County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • eBird sighting report for San Juan 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 Moab ...

We found four communities that share the name Moab.

Within Utah, the name Moab is unique.

Beyond Utah, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Perry County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Moab [Perry County].
    • Missouri
      • Pulaski 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 Missouri community of Moab [Pulaski County].
    • Virginia
      • Washington 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 Virginia community of Moab [Washington County].
    • Washington
      • Spokane County
      • This Moab is located in Spokane County and lies 735 miles [1,182.9 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Moab that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spokane County community of Moab.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Moab ...

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.

  • Basin ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basin
    • Basin is located in Grand County
  • Castle Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Valley
    • Castle Valley is located in Grand County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 351 people
  • Crescent Junction
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Junction
    • Crescent Junction is located in Grand County
  • Dewey ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dewey have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
    • Dewey is located in Grand County
  • Elba
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elba have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elba
    • Elba is located in Grand County
  • Spanish Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Valley
    • Spanish Valley is located in San Juan County
  • Valley City ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Valley City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley City
    • Valley City is located in Grand County
  • Vista
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
    • Vista is located in Grand County

How Far From Moab to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Moab to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Salt Lake City, which is the State Capital of Utah, lies 195 miles [313.8 km]<3> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Moab to Salt Lake City, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,742 miles [2,803.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 68 days and walking would take 99 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,070 miles [11,378.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,836 miles [12,610.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,786 miles [9,311.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

The official website for Moab: www.moabcity.state.ut.us/

The official website for Grand County: www.grandcountyutah.net/

The official website for State of Utah: https://www.utah.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Moab, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Moab 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>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 from Point A (ie- Moab) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Moab. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5733, Longitude: -109.5508    
<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>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.
<6>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.
<7>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 Moab to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 329.875 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 328.866 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.589 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024