RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Utah >> Salt Lake County >> White Sands >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in White Sands, we use the following websites to find information relevant to White Sands 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 White Sands:
    • 40.561059, -111.874379
    • 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 White Sands
  • 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 Salt Lake County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Salt Lake County
    • Since White Sands is near Utah County and also Summit County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Utah County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Summit 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 White Sands

Communities Also Named White Sands ...

We found five communities that are also named White Sands.

Within Utah, the name White Sands is unique.

Beyond Utah, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, three are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This White Sands lies 823 miles [1,324.5 km]<1> to the north of the White Sands that is located in Salt Lake County.
    • Georgia
      • Hall County
      • This White Sands is located in Hall County and lies 1,587 miles [2,554 km]<1> to the east of the White Sands that is located in Salt Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hall County community of White Sands.
    • Maryland
      • Calvert County
      • This White Sands is located in Calvert County and lies 1,879 miles [3,024 km]<1> to the east of the White Sands that is located in Salt Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calvert County community of White Sands.
    • New Mexico
      • Dona Ana County
      • This White Sands is located in Dona Ana County and lies 639 miles [1,028.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the White Sands that is located in Salt Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dona Ana County community of White Sands.
    • Prince Edward Island
      • This White Sands lies 2,467 miles [3,970.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the White Sands that is located in Salt Lake County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near White Sands ...

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.

  • Blue Star Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Blue Star Meadows is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Star Meadows
  • Cobblestone Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Cobblestone Village is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobblestone Village
  • Crescent
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Crescent is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
  • Crescent Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Crescent Ridge is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Ridge
  • David Street
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • David Street is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for David Street
  • Dry Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Dry Creek is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Creek
  • Green Willows
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Green Willows is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Willows
  • Greenwood Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Greenwood Park is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Park
  • Heritage Villa
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Heritage Villa is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Villa
  • Hilltop
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hilltop is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Lost Eden
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Lost Eden is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Eden
  • Meadow Cove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Meadow Cove is located in Salt Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Cove
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Mingo Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Mingo Park is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo Park
    • Pebble Glen
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Pebble Glen is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Glen
    • Probe
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Probe is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Probe
    • Quail Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Quail Point is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Point
    • Ridge Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Ridge Point is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Point
    • Robinson Square
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Robinson Square is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Square
    • Sandridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Sandridge is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandridge
    • Sandy
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Sandy is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94,871 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandy <2>
    • Sandy Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Sandy Heights is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Heights
    • Sandy Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Sandy Hills is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Hills
    • Silver Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Silver Ridge is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Ridge
    • Silver Sage
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Silver Sage is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Sage
    • Silver Smith
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Silver Smith is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Smith
    • Spring Circle
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Spring Circle is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Circle
    • Spring Hollow
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Spring Hollow is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hollow
    • Sprucewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Sprucewood is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sprucewood
    • Teakwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Teakwood is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teakwood
    • Union Square
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Union Square is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Square
    • Wildflower
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Wildflower is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildflower
    • Willow View
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Willow View is located in Salt Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow View

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

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

  • Salt Lake City, which is the Seat of Salt Lake County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from White Sands to Salt Lake City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Salt Lake City, which is the State Capital of Utah, lies 13 miles [20.9 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take 6 hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,841 miles [2,962.8 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,010 miles [11,281.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,778 miles [12,517.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,756 miles [9,263.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- White Sands) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 White Sands 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 White Sands. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5611, Longitude: -111.8744       In this case, the coordinates for White Sands have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 331.892 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 331.43 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.773 degrees.