Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Barrell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Barrell and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Barrell

• 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 Barrell:
  • 40.698055, -93.867447
  • 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 Barrell

• 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 Decatur County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Decatur County
  • Since Barrell is near Ringgold County and also Harrison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Ringgold County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Harrison 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 Barrell

Curious and Interesting Names Near Barrell ...

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.

• Big Spring ‑ Historic
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Big Spring is located in Wayne County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
• Burrows
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Burrows is located in Mercer County (MO)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrows
• Eagleville
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Eagleville is located in Harrison County (MO)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleville
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagleville <1>
• Garden Grove
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
• Grand River
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Grand River is located in Decatur County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
• High Point
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • High Point is located in Decatur County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
• Hopeville
  (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Hopeville is located in Clarke County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeville
• Le Roy
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Le Roy is located in Decatur County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Roy
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 14 people
• Lee ‑ Historic
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Lee is located in Ringgold County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
• Leon
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Leon is located in Decatur County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,808 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leon <1>
• Leslie
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Leslie is located in Clarke County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie
• Saline
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Saline is located in Mercer County (MO)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Barrell and extending to:

• Leon, which is the Seat of Decatur County, lies just to the East Northeast.
• Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 63 miles [101.4 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Barrell to Des Moines, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 900 miles [1,448.4 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 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,464 miles [10,402.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,211 miles [11,605 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,104 miles [8,214.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'