Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Urbana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Urbana and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Urbana
- 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 Urbana:
- 42.229731, -91.885502
- 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 Urbana
- 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 Benton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Benton County
- Since Urbana is near Buchanan County and also Linn County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
- eBird sighting report for Linn 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 Urbana ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Urbana.
Within Iowa, the name Urbana is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Allen 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 Kansas community of Urbana [Allen County].
- Nemaha County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Urbana [Nemaha County].
- Neosho County
- This Urbana is located in Neosho County and lies 372 miles [598.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Urbana that is located in Benton County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Neosho County community of Urbana.
- Shawnee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Urbana [Shawnee County].
- Maryland
- Missouri
- Dallas County
- This Urbana is located in Dallas County and lies 310 miles [498.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Urbana that is located in Benton County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dallas County community of Urbana.
- Henry 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 Missouri community of Urbana [Henry County].
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Urbana ...
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.
- Alice
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Center Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
- Center Point is located in Linn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,560 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Point <4>
- Eden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Gatesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gatesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatesville
- Gatesville is located in Buchanan County
- Geneva
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Paris ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east) - Robins
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast) - Rogers
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east) - Shady Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Buchanan County
- Toddville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toddville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toddville
- Toddville is located in Linn County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Toddville <4>
- Vista
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Urbana 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 city such as Urbana to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Urbana and extending to:
- Vinton, which is the Seat of Benton County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Urbana to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>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 three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 810 miles [1,303.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,317 miles [10,166.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,064 miles [11,368.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,957 miles [7,977.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Urbana. 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 '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- Urbana) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Urbana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2297, Longitude: -91.8855 In this case, the coordinates for Urbana 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Urbana 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Urbana to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.308 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.661 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.616 degrees. |