Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Benan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Benan
- 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 Benan:
- 42.123039, -94.648034
- 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 Benan
- 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 Carroll County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Carroll County
- Since Benan is near Calhoun County and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- eBird sighting report for Greene 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 Benan ...
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.
- Coon Rapids
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coon Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Rapids
- Coon Rapids is located in Carroll County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,221 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coon Rapids <2>
- Cooper
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast) - Dana
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east) - Grand Junction
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Junction
- Grand Junction is located in Greene County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 757 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Junction <2>
- Gravel Pit
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gravel Pit have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Pit
- Gravel Pit is located in Greene County
- Hart
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest) - Lake City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Lake City is located in Calhoun County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,604 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake City <2>
- Lena
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east) - Maple River
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple River
- Maple River is located in Carroll County
- Piper
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north) - Richard
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
How Far From Benan 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 community such as Benan 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 Benan once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Benan and extending to:
- Carroll, which is the Seat of Carroll County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<4> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Benan to Carroll, 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 64 miles [103 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 949 miles [1,527.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,416 miles [10,325.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,168 miles [11,535.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,068 miles [8,156.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Carroll County: www.co.carroll.ia.us/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Benan, 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- Benan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Benan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1230, Longitude: -94.6480 In this case, the coordinates for Benan 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 Benan 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 319.219 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.839 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.072 degrees. |