RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Cedar Falls, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cedar Falls and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Cedar Falls:
    • 42.535039, -92.445580
    • 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 Cedar Falls
  • 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 Cedar Falls ...

We found six communities that share the name Cedar Falls.

Within Iowa, the name Cedar Falls is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Jefferson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Cedar Falls [Jefferson County].
      • Marshall 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 Kansas community of Cedar Falls [Marshall County].
    • North Carolina
      • Randolph County
      • This Cedar Falls is located in Randolph County and lies 824 miles [1,326.1 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Cedar Falls that is located in Black Hawk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Cedar Falls.
    • Ohio
      • Hocking County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Cedar Falls [Hocking County].
    • Washington
      • King County
      • This Cedar Falls is located in King County and lies 1,462 miles [2,352.9 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Cedar Falls that is located in Black Hawk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the King County community of Cedar Falls.
    • Wisconsin
      • Dunn County
      • This Cedar Falls is located in Dunn County and lies 168 miles [270.4 km]<2> to the north of the Cedar Falls that is located in Black Hawk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dunn County community of Cedar Falls.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cedar Falls ...

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.

  • Big Rock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
    • Big Rock is located in Black Hawk County
  • Castle Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Hill
    • Castle Hill is located in Black Hawk County
  • Cedar City
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar City
    • Cedar City is located in Black Hawk County
  • Edwards ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Finchford
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Fredsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Glasgow ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glasgow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow
    • Glasgow is located in Black Hawk County
  • Hilltop
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hilltop have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
    • Hilltop is located in Black Hawk County
  • Janesville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Orange
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orange have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
    • Orange is located in Black Hawk County

How Far From Cedar Falls 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 city such as Cedar Falls to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Cedar Falls and extending to:

  • Waterloo, which is the Seat of Black Hawk County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Cedar Falls to Des Moines, with an average speed<7>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 843 miles [1,356.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
  • The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,320 miles [10,171.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,069 miles [11,376.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,965 miles [7,990.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>

The official website for Cedar Falls: www.ci.cedar-falls.ia.us/

The official website for Black Hawk County: www.co.black-hawk.ia.us/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Cedar Falls 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Cedar Falls) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cedar Falls. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5350, Longitude: -92.4456    
<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 Cedar Falls, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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>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.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>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.
<8>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 Cedar Falls to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.699 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.15 degrees.
<11>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.829 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025