Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Owen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Owen and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Owen
- 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 Owen:
- 43.037468, -93.082144
- 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 Owen
- 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 Cerro Gordo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cerro Gordo County
- Since Owen is near Floyd County and also Franklin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Floyd County
- eBird sighting report for Franklin 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 Owen ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Owen.
Within Iowa, the name Owen is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Owen ...
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.
- Cartersville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartersville
- Cartersville is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Freeman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Marble Rock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marble Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Rock
- Marble Rock is located in Floyd County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 287 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marble Rock <5>
- Mason City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City
- Mason City is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,682 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason City <5>
- Mason City Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mason City Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City Junction
- Mason City Junction is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Plymouth
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Registry Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Registry Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Registry Park
- Registry Park is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Rock Falls
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Falls
- Rock Falls is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 146 people
- Roseville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Roseville is located in Floyd County
How Far From Owen 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 community such as Owen to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Owen and extending to:
- Mason City, which is the Seat of Cerro Gordo County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Owen to Mason City, with an average speed<7> 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 103 miles [165.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 882 miles [1,419.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,316 miles [10,164.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,067 miles [11,373.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,967 miles [7,993.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Owen. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Cerro Gordo County: www.co.cerro-gordo.ia.us/
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Owen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Owen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0375, Longitude: -93.0821 In this case, the coordinates for Owen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Owen 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 Owen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Owen to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.149 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.733 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.038 degrees. |