Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bard and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bard
- 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 Bard:
- 41.240305, -91.287653
- 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 Bard
- 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 Louisa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Louisa County
- Since Bard is near Muscatine County and also Henry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Muscatine County
- eBird sighting report for Henry 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 Bard ...
We found seven communities that share the name Bard.
Within Iowa, the name Bard is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bard ...
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.
- Cairo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Conesville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
- Conesville is located in Muscatine County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
- Fruitland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
- Fruitland is located in Muscatine County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
- Grandview
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Lone Tree
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lone Tree have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
- Lone Tree is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,384 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lone Tree <5>
- Marsh
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Mediapolis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mediapolis
- Mediapolis is located in Des Moines County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,514 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mediapolis <5>
- Noble
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west) - Olds
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest) - Petersville
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
- Petersville is located in Mercer County (IL)
- Pleasant Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Des Moines County
- Swedesburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedesburg
- Swedesburg is located in Henry County
How Far From Bard 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 Bard to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bard and extending to:
- Wapello, which is the Seat of Louisa County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 123 miles [197.9 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Bard to Des Moines, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 769 miles [1,237.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,346 miles [10,212.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,090 miles [11,410.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,978 miles [8,011.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bard. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Louisa County: www.louisacountyiowa.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Bard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2403, Longitude: -91.2877 In this case, the coordinates for Bard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Bard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Bard 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Bard to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.88 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.037 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.558 degrees. |