Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Royal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Royal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Royal
- 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 Royal:
- 43.064354, -95.283806
- 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 Royal
- 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 Clay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Clay County
- Since Royal is near O'Brien County and also Buena Vista County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for O'Brien County
- eBird sighting report for Buena Vista 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 Royal ...
We found 24 communities that share the name Royal.
Within Iowa, the name Royal is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another 24 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 24 communities, 23 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Beaufort County
- This Royal is located in Beaufort County and lies 1,123 miles [1,807.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Royal that is located in Clay County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaufort County community of Royal.
- Franklin County
- This Royal is located in Franklin County and lies 1,021 miles [1,643.1 km] to the east southeast of the Royal that is located in Clay County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Royal.
- Ohio
- Clark County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Clark County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Royal.
- Tuscarawas 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 Ohio community of Royal [Tuscarawas County].
- Vinton County
- This Royal is located in Vinton County and lies 708 miles [1,139.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Royal that is located in Clay County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vinton County community of Royal.
- Ontario
- This Royal lies 814 miles [1,310 km]<1> to the east of the Royal that is located in Clay County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Fayette 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 Pennsylvania community of Royal [Fayette County].
- Susquehanna County
- This Royal is located in Susquehanna County and lies 1,005 miles [1,617.4 km]<1> to the east of the Royal that is located in Clay County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Susquehanna County community of Royal.
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Royal ...
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.
- Archer
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Archer have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
- Archer is located in O'Brien County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Archer <5>
- Dickens
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickens
- Dickens is located in Clay County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
- Greenville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
- Greenville is located in Clay County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <5>
- Mapleside
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west) - Marathon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon
- Marathon is located in Buena Vista County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
- May City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May City
- May City is located in Osceola County
- Melvin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest) - Rembrandt
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rembrandt
- Rembrandt is located in Buena Vista County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rembrandt <5>
How Far From Royal 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 Royal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Royal and extending to:
- Spencer, which is the Seat of Clay County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 132 miles [212.4 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Royal to Des Moines, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 991 miles [1,594.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 57 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,388 miles [10,280.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,142 miles [11,493.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,048 miles [8,124 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Royal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Clay County: www.co.clay.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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Royal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Royal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0644, Longitude: -95.2838 In this case, the coordinates for Royal 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 Royal 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> | 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 Royal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Royal 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 319.695 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.508 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.198 degrees. |