RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Sioux County >> Orange City >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Orange City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orange City 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 Orange City:
    • 43.006056, -96.056755
    • 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 Orange City
  • 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 Sioux County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sioux County
    • Since Orange City is near Plymouth County and also O'Brien County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for O'Brien 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 Orange City

Communities Also Named Orange City ...

We found one communities that are also named Orange City.

Within Iowa, the name Orange City is unique.

Beyond Iowa, there is another community also named Orange City in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Volusia County
      • This Orange City is located in Volusia County and lies 1,269 miles [2,042.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Orange City that is located in Sioux County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Volusia County community of Orange City.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Orange City ...

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.

  • Archer
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Craig
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Craig is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
  • Hull
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Hull is located in Sioux County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,296 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hull <2>
  • Mapleside
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Mapleside is located in O'Brien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleside
  • Marcus
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Merrill
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Plymouth ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Plymouth is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
  • Rock Valley
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Ruble
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ruble is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruble
  • Union Center
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Union Center is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center

How Far From Orange City 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 Orange City to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 158 miles [254.3 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Orange City to Des Moines, with an average speed<3>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 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,029 miles [1,656 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,416 miles [10,325.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,171 miles [11,540.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,080 miles [8,175.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Orange City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Orange City 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 Orange City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0061, Longitude: -96.0568    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.241 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.127 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.625 degrees.