RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Polk County >> Ankeny >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ankeny, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ankeny 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 Ankeny:
    • 41.731858, -93.600387
    • 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 Ankeny
  • 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
    • Since Ankeny is near Story County and also Dallas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Story County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dallas 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 Ankeny

Communities Also Named Ankeny ...

We found two communities that are also named Ankeny.

Within Iowa, the name Ankeny is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • Somerset County
      • This Ankeny is located in Somerset County and lies 762 miles [1,226.3 km]<1> to the east of the Ankeny that is located in Polk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Ankeny.
    • Washington
      • Adams County
      • This Ankeny is located in Adams County and lies 1,258 miles [2,024.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ankeny that is located in Polk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Ankeny.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ankeny ...

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.

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ankeny and extending to:

  • Des Moines, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Ankeny to Des Moines, 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.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 9 miles [14.5 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 892 miles [1,435.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,401 miles [10,301.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,150 miles [11,506.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,046 miles [8,120.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ankeny) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Ankeny 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 Ankeny. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7319, Longitude: -93.6004    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.477 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.936 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.617 degrees.