Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Council Bluffs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Council Bluffs and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Council Bluffs
- 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 Council Bluffs:
- 41.261952, -95.867574
- 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 Council Bluffs
- 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 Pottawattamie County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pottawattamie County
- Since Council Bluffs is near Douglas County and also Sarpy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- eBird sighting report for Sarpy 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 Council Bluffs ...
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.
- Clara
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Crescent
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crescent have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
- Crescent is located in Pottawattamie County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 618 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crescent <2>
- Dumfries
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumfries
- Dumfries is located in Pottawattamie County
- Fort Crook
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Crook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Crook
- Fort Crook is located in Sarpy County (NE)
- Home Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Park
- Home Park is located in Douglas County (NE)
- Honey Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- 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
- Mineola
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineola
- Mineola is located in Mills County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mineola <2>
- Paradise Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paradise Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
- Paradise Park is located in Sarpy County (NE)
- Peter
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Portal
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Quick
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
How Far From Council Bluffs 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 Council Bluffs to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Council Bluffs and extending to:
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 118 miles [189.9 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Council Bluffs to Des Moines, with an average speed<4>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 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,006 miles [1,619 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of 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 6,502 miles [10,464 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,254 miles [11,674.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,155 miles [8,296.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Council Bluffs: www.councilbluffs-ia.gov/
The official website for Pottawattamie County: www.pottcounty.com/
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Council Bluffs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Council Bluffs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2620, Longitude: -95.8676 |
| <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 Council Bluffs 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 320.038 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.672 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.889 degrees. |