Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Oyens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oyens and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Oyens
- 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 Oyens:
- 42.819804, -96.058066
- 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 Oyens
- 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 Plymouth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
- Since Oyens is near Sioux County and also Cherokee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Sioux County
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oyens ...
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.
- Craig
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west) - Fielding
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fielding
- Fielding is located in Cherokee County
- Marcus
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marcus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Marcus is located in Cherokee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,055 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marcus <2>
- Merrill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill
- Merrill is located in Plymouth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 723 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Merrill <2>
- Neptune
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Orange City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange City
- Orange City is located in Sioux County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,260 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orange City <2>
- Plymouth ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Ruble
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west) - Union Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center
- Union Center is located in Plymouth County
How Far From Oyens 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 Oyens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Oyens and extending to:
- Le Mars, which is the Seat of Plymouth County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 150 miles [241.4 km]<3> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Oyens to Des Moines, with an average speed<4>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 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,027 miles [1,652.8 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,426 miles [10,341.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,181 miles [11,556.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,089 miles [8,190 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Oyens. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Plymouth County: www.co.plymouth.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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oyens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oyens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8198, Longitude: -96.0581 In this case, the coordinates for Oyens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Oyens to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.236 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.098 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.666 degrees. |