Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fort Madison, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fort Madison and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fort Madison
- 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 Fort Madison:
- 40.632259, -91.333559
- 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 Fort Madison
- 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 Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lee County
- Since Fort Madison is near Hancock County and also Des Moines County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hancock County
- eBird sighting report for Des Moines 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 Fort Madison ...
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.
- Argyle
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Argyle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- Argyle is located in Lee County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Argyle <2>
- Bricker
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Danville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north) - Denmark
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
- Denmark is located in Lee County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denmark <2>
- Ferris
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferris have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferris
- Ferris is located in Hancock County (IL)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ferris <2>
- Franklin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
- Iowa Junction
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Junction
- Iowa Junction is located in Henderson County (IL)
- Pilot Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Grove
- Pilot Grove is located in Lee County
- Skunk River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skunk River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skunk River
- Skunk River is located in Des Moines County
- Spring Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Spring Grove is located in Des Moines County
- Summitville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summitville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summitville
- Summitville is located in Lee County
- Yellow Banks
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yellow Banks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Banks
- Yellow Banks is located in Henderson County (IL)
How Far From Fort Madison 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 Fort Madison to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Fort Madison and extending to:
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<3> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Fort Madison to Des Moines, with an average speed<4>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 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 767 miles [1,234.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,378 miles [10,264.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,120 miles [11,458.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,007 miles [8,058 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Madison. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Lee County: www.leecounty.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- Fort Madison) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Madison. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6323, Longitude: -91.3336 |
| <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 Fort Madison 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 316.895 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.973 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.728 degrees. |