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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 Fern, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fern 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 Fern:
- 42.484545, -92.770154
- 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 Fern
- 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 Grundy County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Grundy County
- Since Fern is near Butler County and also Black Hawk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Butler County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Black Hawk 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 Fern
Communities Also Named Fern ...
We found thirteen communities that are also named Fern.
Within Iowa, the name Fern is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Franklin County
- This Fern is located in Franklin County and lies 477 miles [767.7 km]<1> to the south of the Fern that is located in Grundy County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Fern.
- California
- Shasta County
- This Fern is located in Shasta County and lies 1,503 miles [2,418.8 km]<1> to the west of the Fern that is located in Grundy County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Fern.
- Indiana
- Putnam 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 Indiana community of Fern [Putnam County].
- Kansas
- Labette County
- This Fern is located in Labette County and lies 380 miles [611.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Fern that is located in Grundy County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Labette County community of Fern.
- Sherman 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 Kansas community of Fern [Sherman County].
- Louisiana
- Natchitoches Parish
- This Fern is located in Natchitoches Parish and lies 757 miles [1,218.3 km]<1> to the south of the Fern that is located in Grundy County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Natchitoches Parish community of Fern.
- Michigan
- Mason County
- This Fern is located in Mason County and lies 343 miles [552 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Fern that is located in Grundy County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mason County community of Fern.
- Oklahoma
- Harper 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 Oklahoma community of Fern [Harper County].
- Pennsylvania
- Clarion County
- This Fern is located in Clarion County and lies 684 miles [1,100.8 km]<1> to the east of the Fern that is located in Grundy County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Fern.
- Texas
- Harris 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 Texas community of Fern [Harris County].
- Liberty 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 Texas community of Fern [Liberty County].
- West Virginia
- Pleasants County
- This Fern is located in Pleasants County and lies 647 miles [1,041.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Fern that is located in Grundy County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pleasants County community of Fern.
- Wisconsin
- Florence County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Fern [Florence County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fern ...
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.
- Dairyville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Dairyville is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dairyville
- Dike
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Eleanor
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Eleanor is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eleanor
- Finchford
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fredsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Hicks
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hicks is located in Black Hawk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
- Holland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lincoln
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lincoln is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Steamboat Rock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Stout
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Fern 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 community such as Fern to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fern and extending to:
- Grundy Center, which is the Seat of Grundy County, lies just to the South.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 75 miles [120.7 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Fern to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 858 miles [1,380.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two 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 6,334 miles [10,193.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,083 miles [11,399 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,980 miles [8,014.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
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- Fern) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Fern 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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Fern, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Fern 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 Fern. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4845, Longitude: -92.7702 |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.922 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.399 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.01 degrees. |
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