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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 Oakwood Station, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oakwood Station 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 Oakwood Station:
    • 41.937210, -93.516326
    • 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 Oakwood Station
  • 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 Oakwood Station ...

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.

  • Clyde
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Clyde is located in Jasper County
  • Elkhart
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Enterprise
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enterprise have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
    • Enterprise is located in Polk County
  • Gilbert
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Iowa Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Center
    • Iowa Center is located in Story County
  • Jordan
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
    • Jordan is located in Boone County
  • Luther
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Luther have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
    • Luther is located in Boone County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
  • Madrid
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Maxwell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Mingo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Nevada
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)

How Far From Oakwood Station 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 Oakwood Station to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Oakwood Station once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Oakwood Station and extending to:

  • Des Moines, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<4> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Oakwood Station to Des Moines, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 24 miles [38.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 889 miles [1,430.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,388 miles [10,280.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,137 miles [11,485.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,033 miles [8,099.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.ia.us/

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>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 Oakwood Station, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Oakwood Station) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oakwood Station. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9372, Longitude: -93.5163       In this case, the coordinates for Oakwood Station have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Oakwood Station 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 318.425 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.903 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.526 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024