Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Castana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Castana and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Castana
- 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 Castana:
- 42.073091, -95.910396
- 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 Castana
- 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 Monona County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Monona County
- Since Castana is near Woodbury County and also Crawford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Woodbury County
- eBird sighting report for Crawford 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 Castana ...
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.
- Allen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south) - Charter Oak
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charter Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Oak
- Charter Oak is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Charter Oak <2>
- Climbing Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climbing Hill
- Climbing Hill is located in Woodbury County
- Holly Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Holly Springs is located in Woodbury County
- Little Sioux
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Sioux have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sioux
- Little Sioux is located in Harrison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Sioux <2>
- Maple Landing ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Landing
- Maple Landing is located in Monona County
- Moorhead
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moorhead have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorhead
- Moorhead is located in Monona County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moorhead <2>
- Orson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south) - Ricketts
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Soldier
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldier
- Soldier is located in Monona County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Soldier <2>
How Far From Castana to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Castana to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Castana and extending to:
- Onawa, which is the Seat of Monona County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Castana to Onawa, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 122 miles [196.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 1,012 miles [1,628.7 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,461 miles [10,398 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,214 miles [11,609.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,118 miles [8,236.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Castana. 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- Castana) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Castana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0731, Longitude: -95.9104 In this case, the coordinates for Castana have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Castana to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.104 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.851 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.746 degrees. |