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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rock Rapids, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rock Rapids and the surrounding area.
- 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 Rapids:
- 43.425905, -96.165722
- 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 Rock Rapids
- 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 Lyon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lyon County
- Since Rock Rapids is near Rock County and also Nobles County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Rock County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Nobles 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 Rock Rapids
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rock Rapids ...
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.
- Ash Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Ash Creek is located in Rock County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash Creek
- Beaver Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Beaver Creek is located in Rock County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
- Bruce
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bruce is located in Rock County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
- Edna
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Edna is located in Lyon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
- George
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hull
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Lester
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Lester is located in Lyon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Little Rock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Magnolia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Magnolia is located in Rock County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
- Rock Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Rock Rapids to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories 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 Rapids to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Rock Rapids and extending to:
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 181 miles [291.3 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Rock Rapids to Des Moines, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,039 miles [1,672.1 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 6,397 miles [10,295 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,153 miles [11,511.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,064 miles [8,149.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rock Rapids) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Rock Rapids 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 Rock Rapids. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4259, Longitude: -96.1657 In this case, the coordinates for Rock Rapids have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.332 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.285 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.592 degrees. |
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