Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Afton Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Afton Junction and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Afton Junction
- 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 Afton Junction:
- 41.016658, -94.123562
- 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 Afton Junction
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since Afton Junction is near Clarke County and also Ringgold County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clarke County
- eBird sighting report for Ringgold 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Afton Junction ...
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.
- Barney
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barney
- Barney is located in Madison County
- Diagonal
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diagonal
- Diagonal is located in Ringgold County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 312 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Diagonal <1>
- Grand River
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
- Grand River is located in Decatur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Groveland ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Hebron
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest) - Hopeville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Kent
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Kent is located in Union County
- Leslie
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Macksburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macksburg
- Macksburg is located in Madison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
- Murray
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Old Peru
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast) - Tingley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tingley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tingley
- Tingley is located in Ringgold County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tingley <1>
- Zion
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion
- Zion is located in Adair County
How Far From Afton Junction 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 Afton Junction to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Afton Junction once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Afton Junction and extending to:
- Creston, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Afton Junction to Creston, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 914 miles [1,470.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,456 miles [10,389.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,205 miles [11,595.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,099 miles [8,206 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
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> | 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. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Afton Junction, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Afton Junction) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Afton Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0167, Longitude: -94.1236 In this case, the coordinates for Afton Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Afton Junction 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 318.813 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.229 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.043 degrees. |