How Far Is 100 yards? With Examples

Last updated on June 21st, 2022 at 11:23 am

If someone is trying to describe a long distance, they might estimate it in yards, and you might frequently hear the estimate of 100 yards. However, it’s hard to visualize this distance if you’re not familiar with yards or you don’t have anything to compare it to.

Keep reading to learn more about how far 100 yards is.

How far is 100 yards?

One yard is equal to 3 feet. This means that 100 yards equals 300 feet. A mile is 5,280 feet, so 100 yards is 0.057 miles.

For people who aren’t as familiar with the imperial measuring system, it’s often helpful to compare yards to meters, as they’re almost the same size. One yard is equal to about 0.9144 meters, so 100 yards is equal to 91.44 meters.

For most people of average height and fitness, it takes about one minute to walk 100 yards.

A Football Field

For most people in the United States, it’s easiest to compare 100 yards to a football field. An American football field is exactly 100 yards long, so if you’ve ever seen a football field, you can perfectly visualize how far 100 yards is.

You can also use other sports locations to compare to 100 yards. For example, a soccer field must be between 100 and 130 yards long and between 50 and 100 yards wide. Although this is not as exact as an American football field, it can still help you estimate that distance.

A basketball court is much smaller than either of these fields. It measures almost 92 feet long and 49 feet wide. This means you would need to line up three basketball courts endline to endline to equal about 300 feet or 100 yards.

A City Block

The size of a city block depends on how it was designed and what the regulations are in the area. Even in the same area, the exact size of city blocks can vary from block to block. However, many city blocks are right around 100 yards wide. In New York City, a block is about 264 feet or 88 yards wide.

In Chicago, an average city block is about 330 feet or 110 yards wide. If you can imagine how long it would take to walk the width of a block, you can estimate how long it would take to walk 100 yards.

A Cruise Ship

Cruise ships are a great way to visualize long lengths because they themselves are so massive. Each cruise ship, depending on when it was made, what it was designed for, and what model it is, will have a slightly different overall size. Most cruise ships, though, are around 1,000 feet long. This is just over three times longer than 100 yards.

An Airplane

Airplanes are easy for most people to visualize, so they’re a good way to compare lengths, and they’re excellent for comparing to 100 yards. Throughout the years, the size of airplanes has fluctuated, and even similar airplanes of different classes are different lengths.

However, most standard commercial jets are between about 130 and 160 feet long. This means that you would need about two planes to equal 100 yards.

Smaller private planes also vary in size, but they’re usually about 30 to 33 feet long. This means you would need 10 small planes to equal 100 yards.

Train Cars

On average, a standard passenger car on a train is about 85 feet long. Train boxcars usually have an exterior length of either 55 or 68 feet. If we take all these measurements together, we can find that an average train car measures about 69 feet long.

This means you would need only about four train cars to equal 100 yards. If you’re looking at a commuter train and can picture three and a half cars, you can picture 100 yards.

Similarly, if you’ve ever watched a freight train pass by and you can picture about five of the boxcars, you’re picturing about 100 yards.

School Buses

School buses are a common sight, so they’re easy to picture. Although larger or smaller buses might be used in big cities or more rural locations, the average bus length is about 35 feet. This means you would need about eight and a half standard yellow school buses to equal around 100 yards.

You can also use cars to compare to 100 yards. The average length of a car is about 14 feet. Some sedans or compact cars are a little shorter, while trucks, SUVs, and vans can be slightly longer. Using the average length of 14 feet, however, shows that you would need just over 21 cars to equal a distance of 100 yards.

The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is ideal for comparing to 100 yards because it is almost exactly 100 yards tall. This massive statue stands in New York and is an iconic sight, and it has a height of 305 feet. This is only 5 feet taller than 100 yards, so if you’ve ever visited the Statue of Liberty, you can easily estimate a height or length of 100 yards.

Brachiosaurus

The Brachiosaurs, which was an herbivore, was one of the largest dinosaurs and perhaps one of the biggest creatures to ever live. This massive animal was usually between 85 and 98 feet long, meaning that you would only need three of them to equal just less than 100 yards.

Blue Whales

Blue whales, specifically Antarctic blue whales, are the biggest animals on the planet. They can grow to just shy of 100 feet long, meaning that they’re 1/3 as long as 100 yards.