Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Roland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Roland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Roland
- 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 Roland:
- 42.166399, -93.500591
- 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 Roland
- 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 Story County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Story County
- Since Roland is near Hardin County and also Hamilton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hardin County
- eBird sighting report for Hamilton 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 Roland ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Roland.
Within Iowa, the name Roland is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Leavenworth County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Leavenworth County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leavenworth County community of Roland.
- Rush County
- This community is historic and although located in Rush County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rush County community of Roland.
- Sumner County
- This Roland is located in Sumner County and lies 398 miles [640.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Roland that is located in Story County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumner County community of Roland.
- Manitoba
- This Roland lies 541 miles [870.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Roland that is located in Story County.
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Roland ...
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.
- Garden City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Hardin County
- Gilbert
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert
- Gilbert is located in Story County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,152 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilbert <5>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Gilbert
- From Roland to Gilbert
- Illinois Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Illinois Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinois Grove
- Illinois Grove is located in Marshall County
- Iowa Center
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Center
- Iowa Center is located in Story County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Iowa Center
- From Roland to Iowa Center
- Jewell
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
- Jewell is located in Hamilton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,138 people
- Jewell has also been known as:
- Jewell Junction
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jewell <5>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Jewell
- From Roland to Jewell
- Jordan
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
- Jordan is located in Boone County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Jordan
- From Roland to Jordan
- Nevada
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevada
- Nevada is located in Story County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,682 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nevada <5>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Nevada
- From Roland to Nevada
- Randall
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randall
- Randall is located in Hamilton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 166 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Randall
- From Roland to Randall
- Story City
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Story City
- Story City is located in Story County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,330 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Story City <5>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Story City
- From Roland to Story City
How Far From Roland 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 Roland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Roland and extending to:
- Nevada, which is the Seat of Story County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Roland to Nevada, with an average speed<6> 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 39 miles [62.8 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 891 miles [1,433.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,375 miles [10,259.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,125 miles [11,466.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,022 miles [8,082.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Roland: www.cityofroland.org/
The official website for Story County: www.storycounty.com/
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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Roland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Roland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1664, Longitude: -93.5006 |
| <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 Roland, 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 Roland 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 Roland 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 318.421 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.928 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.465 degrees. |