Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Spring, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Spring and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Spring
- 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 Big Spring:
- 40.683340, -93.526884
- 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 Big Spring
- 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 Wayne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wayne County
- Since Big Spring is near Decatur County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Decatur County
- eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Big Spring ...
We found 21 communities that share the name Big Spring.
Within Iowa, the name Big Spring is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Marshall 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 Alabama community of Big Spring [Marshall County].
- Georgia
- Gordon 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 Georgia community of Big Spring [Gordon County].
- Hancock County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Big Spring [Hancock County].
- Walker County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Big Spring [Walker County].
- Kentucky
- Meade County
- This Big Spring is located in Meade County and lies 441 miles [709.7 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meade County community of Big Spring.
- Maryland
- Baltimore County
- This Big Spring is located in Baltimore County and lies 889 miles [1,430.7 km]<3> to the east of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Big Spring.
- Washington County
- This Big Spring is located in Washington County and lies 824 miles [1,326.1 km] to the east of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Big Spring.
- Michigan
- Ottawa County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Big Spring [Ottawa County].
- Minnesota
- Fillmore County
- This Big Spring is located in Fillmore County and lies 212 miles [341.2 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fillmore County community of Big Spring.
- Missouri
- Montgomery County
- This Big Spring is located in Montgomery County and lies 169 miles [272 km]<3> to the southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Big Spring.
- North Carolina
- Jackson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Big Spring [Jackson County].
- Oklahoma
- Hughes County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Big Spring [Hughes County].
- Pennsylvania
- Centre County
- This Big Spring is located in Centre County and lies 822 miles [1,322.9 km]<3> to the east of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Centre County community of Big Spring.
- Cumberland County
- This Big Spring is located in Cumberland County and lies 847 miles [1,363.1 km] to the east of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Big Spring.
- Franklin County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Big Spring [Franklin County].
- Tennessee
- Carter County
- This Big Spring is located in Carter County and lies 679 miles [1,092.7 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carter County community of Big Spring.
- Meigs County
- This Big Spring is located in Meigs County and lies 594 miles [956 km] to the southeast of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meigs County community of Big Spring.
- Wilson 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 Tennessee community of Big Spring [Wilson County].
- Texas
- Howard County
- This Big Spring is located in Howard County and lies 730 miles [1,174.8 km]<3> to the southwest of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Big Spring.
- Virginia
- Page County
- This Big Spring is located in Page County and lies 812 miles [1,306.8 km]<3> to the east of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Page County community of Big Spring.
- Wisconsin
- Adams County
- This Big Spring is located in Adams County and lies 286 miles [460.3 km]<3> to the northeast of the Big Spring that is located in Wayne County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Big Spring.
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Spring ...
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.
- Burrows
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest) - Galesburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast) - Garden Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
- Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
- Harvard
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east) - High Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
- High Point is located in Decatur County
- Hodge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Le Roy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Leon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
- Leon is located in Decatur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,808 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leon <5>
- Lineville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Powersville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Powersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersville
- Powersville is located in Putnam County (MO)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Saline
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Big Spring 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 Big Spring 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 community of Big Spring once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Spring and extending to:
- Corydon, which is the Seat of Wayne County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Big Spring to Corydon, with an average speed<6> 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 63 miles [101.4 km] to the north (N). 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 882 miles [1,419.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,453 miles [10,385.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,199 miles [11,585.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,091 miles [8,193.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
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 Big Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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 Big Spring 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. |
| <3> | 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- Big Spring) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6833, Longitude: -93.5269 In this case, the coordinates for Big Spring have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Big Spring 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 318.389 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.697 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.812 degrees. |