Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Elma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elma and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Elma
- 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 Elma:
- 43.245903, -92.436587
- 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 Elma
- 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Howard County
- Since Elma is near Chickasaw County and also Floyd County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Chickasaw County
- eBird sighting report for Floyd 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 Elma ...
We found eight communities that share the name Elma.
Within Iowa, the name Elma is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, five are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Manitoba
- This Elma lies 486 miles [782.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Elma that is located in Howard County.
- Mississippi
- New York
- Ontario
- This Elma lies 859 miles [1,382.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Elma that is located in Howard County.
- Quebec
- This Elma lies 699 miles [1,124.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Elma that is located in Howard County.
- Virginia
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Elma ...
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.
- Charles City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charles City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charles City
- Charles City is located in Floyd County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,217 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Charles City <4>
- Chester
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
- Chester is located in Howard County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chester <4>
- Chickasaw
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickasaw
- Chickasaw is located in Chickasaw County
- Doubleday
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Floyd
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floyd
- Floyd is located in Floyd County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floyd <4>
- Howardville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howardville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardville
- Howardville is located in Floyd County
- Le Roy
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Roy
- Le Roy is located in Mower County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 932 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Le Roy <4>
- Lime Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Springs
- Lime Springs is located in Howard County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 476 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lime Springs <4>
- Little Cedar
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Cedar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Cedar
- Little Cedar is located in Mitchell County
- Little Turkey
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Turkey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Turkey
- Little Turkey is located in Chickasaw County
- Maple Leaf
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Leaf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Leaf
- Maple Leaf is located in Howard County
- Orchard
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west) - Riceville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riceville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceville
- Riceville is located in Howard County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 762 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riceville <4>
How Far From Elma 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 Elma to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Elma and extending to:
- Cresco, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Elma to Cresco, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 128 miles [206 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 854 miles [1,374.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,284 miles [10,113.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,034 miles [11,320.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,933 miles [7,938.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Elma. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Elma 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. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Elma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2459, Longitude: -92.4366 |
| <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> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Elma to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.703 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.25 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.646 degrees. |