RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Polk County >> South Ridge Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in South Ridge Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Ridge Estates and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 South Ridge Estates:
    • 41.513879, -93.602995
    • 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 South Ridge Estates
  • 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
    • Since South Ridge Estates is near Warren County and also Dallas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Warren County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dallas 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 South Ridge Estates

Communities Also Named South Ridge Estates ...

We found one communities that are also named South Ridge Estates.

Within Iowa, the name South Ridge Estates is unique.

Beyond Iowa, there is another community also named South Ridge Estates in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • York County
      • This South Ridge Estates is located in York County and lies 892 miles [1,435.5 km]<1> to the east of the South Ridge Estates that is located in Polk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of South Ridge Estates.

Curious and Interesting Names Near South Ridge Estates ...

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.

  • Carbondale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Carbondale is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
  • Commerce
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Commerce is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commerce
  • Greenbush
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenbush is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
  • Pleasant Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Rising Sun
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Rising Sun is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Sun
  • Scotch Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Scotch Ridge is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotch Ridge
  • Summerset
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Summerset is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset
  • Summerset Junction ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Summerset Junction is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset Junction
  • Valley Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Valley Junction is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Junction

How Far From South Ridge Estates 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 South Ridge Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in South Ridge Estates and extending to:

  • Des Moines, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies just to the North.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies just to the north (N).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 890 miles [1,432.3 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from South Ridge Estates to White House, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 51 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,412 miles [10,319.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,161 miles [11,524.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,056 miles [8,136.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- South Ridge Estates) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 South Ridge Estates 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 South Ridge Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5139, Longitude: -93.6030       In this case, the coordinates for South Ridge Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.472 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.901 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.667 degrees.