Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rock Falls, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rock Falls and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rock Falls
- 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 Rock Falls:
- 43.207030, -93.087196
- 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 Rock Falls
- 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 Rock Falls is near Floyd County and also Mitchell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Floyd County
- eBird sighting report for Mitchell 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 Rock Falls ...
We found three communities that share the name Rock Falls.
Within Iowa, the name Rock Falls is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Whiteside County
- This Rock Falls is located in Whiteside County and lies 199 miles [320.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Rock Falls that is located in Cerro Gordo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Whiteside County community of Rock Falls.
- Nebraska
- Phelps County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Rock Falls [Phelps County].
- Wisconsin
- Dunn County
- This Rock Falls is located in Dunn County and lies 125 miles [201.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Rock Falls that is located in Cerro Gordo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dunn County community of Rock Falls.
- Illinois
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rock Falls ...
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.
- Dixie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Freeman
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Manly
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manly
- Manly is located in Worth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,271 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manly <4>
- Mason City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- 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 <4>
- Mason City Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mason City Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City Junction
- Mason City Junction is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Plymouth
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Registry Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Registry Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Registry Park
- Registry Park is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Rock Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Rock Creek is located in Mitchell County
How Far From Rock Falls 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 Rock Falls to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rock Falls and extending to:
- Mason City, which is the Seat of Cerro Gordo County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 114 miles [183.5 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Rock Falls to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 885 miles [1,424.3 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,308 miles [10,151.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,059 miles [11,360.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,959 miles [7,980.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rock Falls. 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rock Falls) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rock Falls. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2070, Longitude: -93.0872 In this case, the coordinates for Rock Falls 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 Rock Falls 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Rock Falls 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 318.155 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.762 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.999 degrees. |