Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ellston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ellston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ellston
- 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 Ellston:
- 40.840493, -94.108754
- 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 Ellston
- 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 Ringgold County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Ringgold County
- Since Ellston is near Decatur County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Decatur County
- eBird sighting report for Union 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 Ellston ...
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.
- Diagonal
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diagonal
- Diagonal is located in Ringgold County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 312 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Diagonal <1>
- Grand River
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
- Hopeville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Lee ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south) - Leslie
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast) - Marshall ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest) - Murray
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast) - Tingley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tingley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tingley
- Tingley is located in Ringgold County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tingley <1>
How Far From Ellston 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 city such as Ellston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Ellston and extending to:
- Mount Ayr, which is the Seat of Ringgold County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ellston to Mount Ayr, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 58 miles [93.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 913 miles [1,469.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,465 miles [10,404.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,213 miles [11,608.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,107 miles [8,218.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ellston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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- Ellston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ellston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8405, Longitude: -94.1088 In this case, the coordinates for Ellston 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 Ellston 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 318.796 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.186 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.073 degrees. |