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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 Skunk River, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Skunk River 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 Skunk River:
- 40.726707, -91.200703
- 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 Skunk River
- 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 Des Moines County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Des Moines County
- Since Skunk River is near Lee County and also Hancock County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Hancock 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 Skunk River
Curious and Interesting Names Near Skunk River ...
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.
- Beaverdale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Beaverdale is located in Des Moines County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdale
- Denmark
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Gulf Port
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Gulf Port is located in Henderson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Port
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
- Heapsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Heapsville is located in Henderson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heapsville
- Iowa Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Iowa Junction is located in Henderson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Junction
- Silver Lake ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Silver Lake is located in Henderson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Spring Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Grove is located in Des Moines County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Yellow Banks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Yellow Banks is located in Henderson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Banks
How Far From Skunk River 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 community such as Skunk River to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Skunk River and extending to:
- Burlington, which is the Seat of Des Moines County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Skunk River to Des Moines, with an average speed<3>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 760 miles [1,223.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,368 miles [10,248.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,111 miles [11,444 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,998 miles [8,043.5 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Skunk River) 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 Skunk River 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 Skunk River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7267, Longitude: -91.2007 In this case, the coordinates for Skunk River have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.808 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.886 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.639 degrees. |
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