Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Downey, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Downey and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Downey
- 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 Downey:
- 41.616132, -91.348495
- 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 Downey
- 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 Cedar County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cedar County
- Since Downey is near Johnson County and also Muscatine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- eBird sighting report for Muscatine 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
Communities Also Named Downey ...
We found five communities that share the name Downey.
Within Iowa, the name Downey is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Jasper County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Downey [Jasper County].
- Lake 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 Illinois community of Downey [Lake County].
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Downey ...
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.
- Cedar Bluff
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Cedar Bluff is located in Cedar County
- Cedar Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Cedar Valley is located in Cedar County
- Graham ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Hills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills
- Hills is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 834 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hills <4>
- Iowa City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa City
- Iowa City is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 76,608 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iowa City <4>
- Lone Tree
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lone Tree have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
- Lone Tree is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,384 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lone Tree <4>
- Morse
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Oasis
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
- Oasis is located in Johnson County
- Plato
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - River Junction
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
- River Junction is located in Johnson County
- University Heights
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
- University Heights is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,025 people
How Far From Downey to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Downey to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Downey and extending to:
- Tipton, which is the Seat of Cedar County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Downey to Tipton, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 117 miles [188.3 km] to the west (W). 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 776 miles [1,248.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,329 miles [10,185.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,074 miles [11,384.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,964 miles [7,988.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Downey. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Downey) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Downey. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6161, Longitude: -91.3485 In this case, the coordinates for Downey have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Downey 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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. |
| <7> | 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 Downey to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.929 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.145 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.495 degrees. |