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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 Glen Ellen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Glen Ellen and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Glen Ellen:
    • 42.418794, -96.320573
    • 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 Glen Ellen
  • 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 Glen Ellen ...

We found three communities that share the name Glen Ellen.

Within Iowa, the name Glen Ellen is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Sonoma County
      • This Glen Ellen is located in Sonoma County and lies 1,400 miles [2,253.1 km]<1> to the west of the Glen Ellen that is located in Woodbury County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sonoma County community of Glen Ellen.
    • Indiana
      • Madison 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 Glen Ellen [Madison County].
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Glen Ellen is located in Baltimore County and lies 1,048 miles [1,686.6 km]<1> to the east of the Glen Ellen that is located in Woodbury County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Glen Ellen.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Glen Ellen ...

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.

  • Climbing Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Dakota Dunes
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Evergreen Village
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
    • Evergreen Village is located in Woodbury County
  • Holiday Village
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Village
    • Holiday Village is located in Woodbury County
  • Homer
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • James
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Sergeant Bluff
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sergeant Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sergeant Bluff
    • Sergeant Bluff is located in Woodbury County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,119 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sergeant Bluff <3>
  • Yeomans
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yeomans have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeomans
    • Yeomans is located in Plymouth County

How Far From Glen Ellen 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 Glen Ellen to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Glen Ellen and extending to:

  • Sioux City, which is the Seat of Woodbury County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 149 miles [239.8 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Glen Ellen to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>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 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,036 miles [1,667.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,456 miles [10,389.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,210 miles [11,603.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,117 miles [8,235 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Glen Ellen. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Woodbury County: www.woodbury-ia.com/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Glen Ellen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Glen Ellen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4188, Longitude: -96.3206    
<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 Glen Ellen 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<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 Glen Ellen 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 320.408 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.244 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.891 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025