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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 Donnan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Donnan and the surrounding area.
- 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 Donnan:
- 42.897804, -91.876399
- 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.
- Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Donnan
- 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Since Donnan is near Bremer County and also Clayton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bremer County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Clayton 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Donnan
Curious and Interesting Names Near Donnan ...
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.
- Alpha
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Eldorado
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Eldorado is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
- Fredericksburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Hawkeye
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Highland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Highland is located in Clayton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Junction ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Junction is located in Winneshiek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction
- Maryville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Miner
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Miner is located in Bremer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miner
- Spring Fountain
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Spring Fountain is located in Bremer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Fountain
- Stanley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Stanley is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Twin Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Twin Springs is located in Winneshiek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs
How Far From Donnan 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 Donnan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Donnan and extending to:
- West Union, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 126 miles [202.8 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Donnan to Des Moines, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 820 miles [1,319.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,282 miles [10,109.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,031 miles [11,315.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,927 miles [7,929.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Donnan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Donnan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Donnan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8978, Longitude: -91.8764 In this case, the coordinates for Donnan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.311 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.756 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.442 degrees. |
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