Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Spanaway

• 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 Spanaway:
  • 47.104514, -122.434863
  • 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 Spanaway

• 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 Pierce County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Pierce County
  • Since Spanaway is near King County and also Thurston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for King County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Thurston 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 Spanaway

Curious and Interesting Names Near Spanaway ...

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.

• Clover Park
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Clover Park is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Park
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Clover Park
  • From Spanaway to Clover Park
• Elk Plain
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Elk Plain is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Plain
• Fern Hill
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Fern Hill is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Hill
• Graham
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Graham is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Graham <1>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Graham
  • From Spanaway to Graham
• Hillside
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Hillside is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
• Lake City
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lake City is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
• Lakeview
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Lakeview is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
• Loveland
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Loveland is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveland
• Ponders Corner
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Ponders Corner is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponders Corner
• Rocky Ridge
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Rocky Ridge is located in Pierce County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge

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

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

• Tacoma, which is the Seat of Pierce County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Spanaway to Tacoma, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
• Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 22 miles [35.4 km] to the west (W). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,326 miles [3,743.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 133 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,807 miles [10,954.8 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 7,569 miles [12,181.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,691 miles [9,158.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'