Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rolfe, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rolfe and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rolfe
- 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 Rolfe:
- 42.814655, -94.527850
- 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 Rolfe
- 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 Pocahontas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pocahontas County
- Since Rolfe is near Humboldt County and also Palo Alto County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Humboldt County
- eBird sighting report for Palo Alto 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 Rolfe ...
We found three communities that share the name Rolfe.
Within Iowa, the name Rolfe is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Michigan
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rolfe ...
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.
- Havelock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Havelock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havelock
- Havelock is located in Pocahontas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Havelock <4>
- Lizard ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Mallard
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mallard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard
- Mallard is located in Palo Alto County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 266 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mallard <4>
- Pioneer
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Plover
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Pocahontas
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pocahontas have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas
- Pocahontas is located in Pocahontas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,630 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pocahontas <4>
- Rubens Siding
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rubens Siding have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rubens Siding
- Rubens Siding is located in Pocahontas County
- Rutland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
- Rutland is located in Humboldt County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
- Unique
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Rolfe to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Rolfe to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rolfe and extending to:
- Pocahontas, which is the Seat of Pocahontas County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Rolfe to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 950 miles [1,528.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,376 miles [10,261.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,129 miles [11,473 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,032 miles [8,098.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Rolfe: www.rolfeiowa.com/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rolfe 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. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rolfe) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rolfe. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8147, Longitude: -94.5279 |
| <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 Rolfe 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 319.155 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.856 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.853 degrees. |