Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sterling, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sterling and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sterling
- 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 Sterling:
- 42.076690, -90.252907
- 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 Sterling
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Sterling is near Clinton County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clinton County
- eBird sighting report for Carroll 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 Sterling ...
We found 41 communities that share the name Sterling.
Within Iowa, the name Sterling is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another 41 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 41 communities, 40 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Alaska
- This Sterling lies 2,780 miles [4,474 km]<2> to the northwest of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Hillsborough County
- This Sterling is located in Hillsborough County and lies 1,069 miles [1,720.4 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Sterling.
- Miami-Dade County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Sterling [Miami-Dade County].
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Logan County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Sterling [Logan County].
- Rice County
- This Sterling is located in Rice County and lies 497 miles [799.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rice County community of Sterling.
- Louisiana
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Arenac County
- This Sterling is located in Arenac County and lies 342 miles [550.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arenac County community of Sterling.
- Macomb County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Sterling [Macomb County].
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Carolina
- Mecklenburg County
- This Sterling is located in Mecklenburg County and lies 697 miles [1,121.7 km]<2> to the southeast of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mecklenburg County community of Sterling.
- Robeson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Sterling [Robeson County].
- North Dakota
- Nova Scotia
- This Sterling lies 1,518 miles [2,443 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- Ohio
- Meigs County
- This community is historic<1> and although located in Meigs County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meigs County community of Sterling.
- Wayne County
- This Sterling is located in Wayne County and lies 440 miles [708.1 km]<2> to the east of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Sterling.
- Oklahoma
- Comanche County
- This Sterling is located in Comanche County and lies 662 miles [1,065.4 km]<2> to the southwest of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Comanche County community of Sterling.
- Woods County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Sterling [Woods County].
- Pennsylvania
- Clearfield County
- This Sterling is located in Clearfield County and lies 621 miles [999.4 km]<2> to the east of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clearfield County community of Sterling.
- Wayne County
- This Sterling is located in Wayne County and lies 766 miles [1,232.8 km] to the east of the Sterling that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Sterling.
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Boone County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Sterling [Boone County].
- Wetzel County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Sterling [Wetzel County].
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sterling ...
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.
- Arnold
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Arnold is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Blackhawk
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
- Blackhawk is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Elk River Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk River Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River Junction
- Elk River Junction is located in Clinton County
- Green Island
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Island have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Island
- Green Island is located in Jackson County
- Hickory Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hickory Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Hickory Grove is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Marcus
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Marcus is located in Carroll County (IL)
- Miles
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miles have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
- Miles is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Miles <6>
- Rockaway ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Tenmile
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile
- Tenmile is located in Clinton County
- Twin Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs
- Twin Springs is located in Jackson County
How Far From Sterling 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 community such as Sterling to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sterling and extending to:
- Maquoketa, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Sterling to Maquoketa, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 176 miles [283.2 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 727 miles [1,170 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,267 miles [10,085.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,011 miles [11,283.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,900 miles [7,885.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sterling. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Sterling, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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 from Point A (ie- Sterling) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sterling. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0767, Longitude: -90.2529 In this case, the coordinates for Sterling have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Sterling 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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Sterling to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.192 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.365 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.823 degrees. |