Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ralston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ralston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ralston
- 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 Ralston:
- 42.041708, -94.629386
- 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 Ralston
- 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 Carroll County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Carroll County
- Since Ralston is near Greene County and also Guthrie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Greene County
- eBird sighting report for Guthrie 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 Ralston ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Ralston.
Within Iowa, the name Ralston is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Ralston lies 970 miles [1,561.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Ralston that is located in Carroll County.
- California
- Manitoba
- This Ralston lies 600 miles [965.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Ralston that is located in Carroll County.
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ralston ...
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.
- Coon Rapids
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coon Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Rapids
- Coon Rapids is located in Carroll County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,221 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coon Rapids <5>
- Cooper
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast) - Dana
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east) - Grand Junction
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Junction
- Grand Junction is located in Greene County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 757 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Junction <5>
- Gravel Pit
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gravel Pit have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Pit
- Gravel Pit is located in Greene County
- Lake City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Lake City is located in Calhoun County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,604 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake City <5>
- Lena
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast) - Maple River
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple River have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple River
- Maple River is located in Carroll County
- Viola Center
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Viola Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viola Center
- Viola Center is located in Audubon County
How Far From Ralston 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 Ralston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ralston and extending to:
- Carroll, which is the Seat of Carroll County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Ralston to Carroll, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 60 miles [96.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 947 miles [1,524 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,420 miles [10,332 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- 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).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,071 miles [8,161 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ralston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Carroll County: www.co.carroll.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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ralston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ralston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0417, Longitude: -94.6294 In this case, the coordinates for Ralston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Ralston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Ralston 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. |
| <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> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Ralston to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.203 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.81 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.081 degrees. |