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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 Hills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hills 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 Hills:
- 41.556082, -91.535251
- 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 Hills
- 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 Johnson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- Since Hills is near Washington County and also Cedar County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Cedar 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 Hills
Communities Also Named Hills ...
We found sixteen communities that are also named Hills.
Within Iowa, the name Hills is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of sixteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Hills lies 1,371 miles [2,206.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- California
- Sonoma 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 California community of Hills [Sonoma County].
- Georgia
- Habersham County
- This Hills is located in Habersham County and lies 647 miles [1,041.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Habersham County community of Hills.
- Maryland
- Anne Arundel County
- This Hills is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 811 miles [1,305.2 km]<1> to the east of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Hills.
- Prince George's 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 Maryland community of Hills [Prince George's County].
- Minnesota
- Rock County
- This Hills is located in Rock County and lies 280 miles [450.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rock County community of Hills.
- North Carolina
- Stanly County
- This Hills is located in Stanly County and lies 745 miles [1,199 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stanly County community of Hills.
- Ohio
- Clermont County
- This Hills is located in Clermont County and lies 417 miles [671.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clermont County community of Hills.
- Cuyahoga 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 Ohio community of Hills [Cuyahoga County].
- Pike 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 Ohio community of Hills [Pike County].
- Washington County
- This Hills is located in Washington County and lies 553 miles [890 km] to the east southeast of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Hills.
- Ontario
- 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 Ontario community of Hills.
- Pennsylvania
- Washington 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 Pennsylvania community of Hills [Washington County].
- Texas
- Lee County
- This Hills is located in Lee County and lies 843 miles [1,356.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Hills.
- Travis County
- This Hills is located in Travis County and lies 853 miles [1,372.8 km] to the south southwest of the Hills that is located in Johnson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Travis County community of Hills.
- Utah
- Cache 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 Utah community of Hills [Cache County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hills ...
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.
- Coralville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Frytown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Frytown is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frytown
- Graham ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Graham is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Iowa City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Iowa Junction ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Iowa Junction is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Junction
- Lone Tree
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- River Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- River Junction is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Junction
- University Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- University Heights is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,025 people
How Far From Hills 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 city such as Hills to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hills and extending to:
- Iowa City, which is the Seat of Johnson County, lies just to the North.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 107 miles [172.2 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Hills 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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 785 miles [1,263.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,338 miles [10,200 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,084 miles [11,400.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,974 miles [8,004.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
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 from Point A (ie- Hills) 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 Hills 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 Hills, 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 Hills 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 Hills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5561, Longitude: -91.5353 In this case, the coordinates for Hills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.055 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.281 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.605 degrees. |
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