Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bolan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bolan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bolan
- 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 Bolan:
- 43.371646, -93.119068
- 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 Bolan
- 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 Worth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Worth County
- Since Bolan is near Mitchell County and also Cerro Gordo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mitchell County
- eBird sighting report for Cerro Gordo 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 Bolan ...
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.
- Carpenter
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Deer Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
- Deer Creek is located in Worth County
- Dixie
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Freeman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Gordonsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordonsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordonsville
- Gordonsville is located in Freeborn County (MN)
- London
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for London. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
- London is located in Freeborn County (MN)
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to London
- From Bolan to London
- Lyle
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
- Lyle is located in Mower County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyle <3>
- Manly
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manly
- Manly is located in Worth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,271 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manly <3>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Manly
- From Bolan to Manly
- Mitchell
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
- Mitchell is located in Mitchell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Mitchell
- From Bolan to Mitchell
- Plymouth
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Rock Falls
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Falls
- Rock Falls is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 146 people
- Stacyville Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stacyville Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacyville Junction
- Stacyville Junction is located in Mitchell County
How Far From Bolan 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 Bolan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Bolan and extending to:
- Northwood, which is the Seat of Worth County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 125 miles [201.2 km]<4> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Bolan to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>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 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 889 miles [1,430.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,300 miles [10,138.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,052 miles [11,349.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,953 miles [7,971.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bolan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bolan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bolan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3716, Longitude: -93.1191 |
| <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 Bolan 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 318.18 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.813 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.975 degrees. |