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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alvord, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alvord 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 Alvord:
- 43.341837, -96.304312
- 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 Alvord
- 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 Lyon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lyon County
- Since Alvord is near Sioux County and also Rock County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Sioux County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Rock 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 Alvord
Communities Also Named Alvord ...
We found three communities that are also named Alvord.
Within Iowa, the name Alvord is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- Mercer County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Alvord [Mercer County].
- Texas
- Wise County
- This Alvord is located in Wise County and lies 693 miles [1,115.3 km]<2> to the south of the Alvord that is located in Lyon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wise County community of Alvord.
- West Virginia
- Roane County
- This Alvord is located in Roane County and lies 837 miles [1,347 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Alvord that is located in Lyon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roane County community of Alvord.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alvord ...
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.
- Ash Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Bruce
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Bruce is located in Rock County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
- Edna
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Elm Spring
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Elm Spring is located in Sioux County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Spring
- Hills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Hull
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lester
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Lester is located in Lyon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Rock Rapids
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Rock Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
How Far From Alvord to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Alvord to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alvord and extending to:
- Rock Rapids, which is the Seat of Lyon County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Alvord to Rock Rapids, with an average speed<4> 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.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 182 miles [292.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,045 miles [1,681.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 60 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,406 miles [10,309.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,162 miles [11,526.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,073 miles [8,164.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Alvord, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Alvord) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Alvord 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 Alvord. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3418, Longitude: -96.3043 |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.428 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.385 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.685 degrees. |
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