RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
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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 Vista, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vista 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 Vista:
    • 38.963861, -109.677346
    • 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 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 Grand County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • eBird sighting report for Grand County
    • Since Vista is near Emery County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • eBird sighting report for Emery 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 Vista ...

We found nineteen communities that share the name Vista.

Within Utah, the name Vista is unique.

Beyond Utah, we know of another nineteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nineteen communities, eighteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Diego County
      • This Vista is located in San Diego County and lies 579 miles [931.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of Vista.
    • Florida
      • Levy County
      • This Vista is located in Levy County and lies 1,651 miles [2,657 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Levy County community of Vista.
    • Iowa
      • Buchanan County
      • This Vista is located in Buchanan County and lies 954 miles [1,535.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buchanan County community of Vista.
    • Manitoba
      • This Vista lies 915 miles [1,472.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
    • Michigan
      • Dickinson 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 Michigan community of Vista [Dickinson County].
    • Minnesota
      • Waseca County
      • This Vista is located in Waseca County and lies 904 miles [1,454.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Waseca County community of Vista.
    • Missouri
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Vista is located in Saint Clair County and lies 867 miles [1,395.3 km]<1> to the east of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Vista.
    • Montana
      • Flathead County
      • This Vista is located in Flathead County and lies 696 miles [1,120.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Flathead County community of Vista.
      • Lewis and Clark County
      • This Vista is located in Lewis and Clark County and lies 548 miles [881.9 km] to the north of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis and Clark County community of Vista.
    • Nevada
      • Washoe County
      • This Vista is located in Washoe County and lies 537 miles [864.2 km]<1> to the west of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washoe County community of Vista.
    • New Mexico
      • Grant County
      • This Vista is located in Grant County and lies 488 miles [785.4 km]<1> to the south of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Vista.
    • New York
      • Westchester County
      • This Vista is located in Westchester County and lies 1,903 miles [3,062.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westchester County community of Vista.
    • North Carolina
      • Pender 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 North Carolina community of Vista [Pender County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Pottawatomie 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 Oklahoma community of Vista [Pottawatomie County].
    • Oregon
      • Marion 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 Oregon community of Vista [Marion County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Westmoreland County
      • This Vista is located in Westmoreland County and lies 1,584 miles [2,549.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Vista.
    • Texas
      • Hamilton County
      • This Vista is located in Hamilton County and lies 824 miles [1,326.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Vista.
    • Washington
      • Benton County
      • This Vista is located in Benton County and lies 695 miles [1,118.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Vista that is located in Grand County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Vista.
    • West Virginia
      • Raleigh 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 West Virginia community of Vista [Raleigh County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near 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.

  • Agate ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agate
    • Agate is located in Grand County
  • Castle Valley
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
  • Cottonwood
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Cottonwood is located in Grand County
  • Crescent Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Junction
    • Crescent Junction is located in Grand County
  • Dewey ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dewey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
    • Dewey is located in Grand County
  • Elba
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elba have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elba
    • Elba is located in Grand County
  • Green River
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Solitude
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Solitude have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solitude
    • Solitude is located in Grand County
  • Valley City ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley City
    • Valley City is located in Grand County

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

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

  • Moab, which is the Seat of Grand County, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Vista to Moab, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Salt Lake City, which is the State Capital of Utah, lies 171 miles [275.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,743 miles [2,805.1 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 7,050 miles [11,345.9 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 7,816 miles [12,578.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,769 miles [9,284.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vista. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Vista) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vista. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9639, Longitude: -109.6773       In this case, the coordinates for Vista have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 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>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>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.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Vista 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 330.015 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 329.069 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.633 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 24 Mar 2025