Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Decatur City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Decatur City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Decatur City
- 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 Decatur City:
- 40.742325, -93.832772
- 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 Decatur City
- 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 Decatur County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Decatur County
- Since Decatur City is near Ringgold County and also Clarke County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ringgold County
- eBird sighting report for Clarke 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 Decatur City ...
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 Spring ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
- Big Spring is located in Wayne County
- Burrows
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south) - Garden Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
- Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
- Grand River
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
- Grand River is located in Decatur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Groveland ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north) - High Point
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
- High Point is located in Decatur County
- Hopeville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest) - Le Roy
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast) - Leon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
- Leon is located in Decatur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,808 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leon <2>
- Leslie
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Saline
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
How Far From Decatur City 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 Decatur City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Decatur City and extending to:
- Leon, which is the Seat of Decatur County, lies just to the East.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 59 miles [95 km]<3> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Decatur City to Des Moines, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 898 miles [1,445.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,460 miles [10,396.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,208 miles [11,600.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,101 miles [8,209.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Decatur City. 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Decatur City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Decatur City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7423, Longitude: -93.8328 In this case, the coordinates for Decatur City 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 Decatur City 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 318.602 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.949 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.954 degrees. |