Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Des Moines, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Des Moines and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Des Moines
- 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 Des Moines:
- 47.401923, -122.324588
- 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 Des Moines
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for King County
- Since Des Moines is near Pierce County and also Kitsap County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pierce County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Des Moines ...
We found four communities that share the name Des Moines.
Within Washington, the name Des Moines is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Orange County
- This Des Moines is located in Orange County and lies 957 miles [1,540.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Des Moines that is located in King County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Des Moines.
- Iowa
- Polk County
- This Des Moines is located in Polk County and lies 1,460 miles [2,349.6 km]<1> to the east of the Des Moines that is located in King County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Des Moines.
- New Mexico
- Colfax 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 New Mexico community of Des Moines [Colfax County].
- Union County
- This Des Moines is located in Union County and lies 1,193 miles [1,919.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Des Moines that is located in King County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Des Moines.
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near Des Moines ...
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.
- Christopher
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christopher have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christopher
- Christopher is located in King County
- Federal Way
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Way
- Federal Way is located in King County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 96,307 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Federal Way <4>
- Fern Heath
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fern Heath have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Heath
- Fern Heath is located in King County
- Five Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
- Five Corners is located in King County
- Gregory Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gregory Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory Heights
- Gregory Heights is located in King County
- Highline
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Kent
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Kent is located in King County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 130,676 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent <4>
- Lakota
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Mirror Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mirror Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mirror Lake
- Mirror Lake is located in King County
- Portage
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
How Far From Des Moines 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 city such as Des Moines to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Des Moines and extending to:
- Seattle, which is the Seat of King County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Des Moines to Seattle, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 36 miles [57.9 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 2,320 miles [3,733.7 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,786 miles [10,921 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,548 miles [12,147.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,671 miles [9,126.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Des Moines: www.desmoineswa.gov/
The official website for King County: www.metrokc.gov/
The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Des Moines) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Des Moines. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.4019, Longitude: -122.3246 |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Des Moines 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Des Moines to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.857 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.40 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.769 degrees. |