Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in California Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to California Junction and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for California Junction
- 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 California Junction:
- 41.559511, -95.996093
- 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 California Junction
- 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 Harrison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Harrison County
- Since California Junction is near Washington County and also Pottawattamie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- eBird sighting report for Pottawattamie 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 California Junction ...
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.
- Beebeetown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beebeetown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebeetown
- Beebeetown is located in Harrison County
- Blair
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
- Blair is located in Washington County (NE)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,948 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blair <2>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Blair
- From California Junction to Blair
- De Soto ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto
- De Soto is located in Washington County (NE)
- De Soto has also been known as:
- DeSoto
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to De Soto
- From California Junction to De Soto
- Echo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Euclid
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Herman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herman
- Herman is located in Washington County (NE)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Herman <2>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Herman
- From California Junction to Herman
- Honey Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Honey Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Creek
- Honey Creek is located in Pottawattamie County
- Loveland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Magnolia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Missouri Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Missouri Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missouri Valley
- Missouri Valley is located in Harrison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,576 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Missouri Valley <2>
- Pigeon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pigeon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon
- Pigeon is located in Pottawattamie County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pigeon
- From California Junction to Pigeon
How Far From California Junction 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 California Junction to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in California Junction and extending to:
- Logan, which is the Seat of Harrison County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from California Junction to Logan, 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 122 miles [196.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,014 miles [1,631.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,491 miles [10,446.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,243 miles [11,656.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,145 miles [8,280.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for California Junction. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Harrison County: www.harrisoncountyia.org/
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> | 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. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- California Junction) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in California Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5595, Longitude: -95.9961 |
| <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 California Junction 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 320.142 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.83 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.896 degrees. |