Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rusk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rusk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rusk
- 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 Rusk:
- 42.666642, -94.736649
- 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 Rusk
- 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 Rusk is near Calhoun County and also Buena Vista County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Rusk ...
We found eight communities that share the name Rusk.
Within Iowa, the name Rusk is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Texas
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rusk ...
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
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Havelock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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 <5>
- Jolley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolley
- Jolley is located in Calhoun County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 37 people
- Lizard ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Marathon
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon
- Marathon is located in Buena Vista County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
- Pioneer
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Plover
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plover
- Plover is located in Pocahontas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
- Pocahontas
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pocahontas have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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 <5>
- Rubens Siding
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rubens Siding have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rubens Siding
- Rubens Siding is located in Pocahontas County
- Sulphur Springs
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Sulphur Springs is located in Buena Vista County
- Twin Lakes
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in Calhoun County
How Far From Rusk 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 community such as Rusk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rusk and extending to:
- Pocahontas, which is the Seat of Pocahontas County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Rusk to Des Moines, with an average speed<6>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 most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 959 miles [1,543.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,391 miles [10,285.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,143 miles [11,495.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,046 miles [8,120.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rusk. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rusk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rusk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6666, Longitude: -94.7366 In this case, the coordinates for Rusk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Rusk, 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 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 Rusk 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 Rusk 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 319.298 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.001 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.998 degrees. |