RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> King County >> SeaTac >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in SeaTac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to SeaTac 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 SeaTac:
    • 47.445218, -122.296277
    • 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 SeaTac
  • 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 King County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King County
    • Since SeaTac is near Pierce County and also Kitsap County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pierce County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kitsap 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 SeaTac

Curious and Interesting Names Near SeaTac ...

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.

  • Cascade
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cascade is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Fern Heath
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fern Heath is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Heath
  • Five Corners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Five Corners is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
  • Gregory Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Gregory Heights is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory Heights
  • Highline
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Highline is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highline
  • Hillman City ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hillman City is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman City
  • Holly Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Holly Park is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Park
  • Kennydale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Kennydale is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennydale
  • Kent
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Maplewood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Maplewood is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Maplewood Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Maplewood Heights is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Heights
  • May Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • May Creek is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May Creek
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Portage
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Portage is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
    • Skyway
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Skyway is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyway
    • South Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • South Park is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Park
    • Vermontville ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Vermontville is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermontville

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in SeaTac and extending to:

  • Seattle, which is the Seat of King County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from SeaTac to Seattle, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 39 miles [62.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,319 miles [3,732.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,783 miles [10,916.2 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 7,545 miles [12,142.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,668 miles [9,121.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

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>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- SeaTac) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 SeaTac 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 SeaTac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.4452, Longitude: -122.2963    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.836 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.377 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.747 degrees.