Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Goldfield, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Goldfield and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Goldfield
- 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 Goldfield:
- 42.73535, -93.920492
- 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 Goldfield
- 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 Wright County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wright County
- Since Goldfield is near Humboldt County and also Webster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Humboldt County
- eBird sighting report for Webster 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 Goldfield ...
We found five communities that share the name Goldfield.
Within Iowa, the name Goldfield is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Mississippi
- Nevada
- Ontario
- This Goldfield lies 946 miles [1,522.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Goldfield that is located in Wright County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Goldfield ...
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.
- Arnold
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west) - Badger
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Badger have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Badger
- Badger is located in Webster County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 534 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Badger <5>
- Drew
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Eagle Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Grove
- Eagle Grove is located in Wright County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,367 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Grove <5>
- Florence
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Hardy
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
- Hardy is located in Humboldt County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
- Humboldt
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
- Humboldt is located in Humboldt County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,544 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Humboldt <5>
- Jones Siding
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jones Siding have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Siding
- Jones Siding is located in Humboldt County
- Olaf
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Thor
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thor have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thor
- Thor is located in Humboldt County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thor <5>
- Woolstock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolstock
- Woolstock is located in Wright County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
How Far From Goldfield 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 Goldfield to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Goldfield and extending to:
- Clarion, which is the Seat of Wright County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Goldfield to Clarion, with an average speed<6> 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 80 miles [128.7 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 919 miles [1,479 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 53 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,360 miles [10,235.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,112 miles [11,445.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,012 miles [8,066 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Goldfield. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Wright County: www.wrightcounty.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Goldfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Goldfield) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Goldfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7353, Longitude: -93.9205 |
| <3> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Goldfield 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. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Goldfield to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.728 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.356 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.552 degrees. |