Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Yards, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Yards and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for West Yards

• 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 West Yards:
  • 43.042484, -91.200686
  • 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 West Yards

• 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 Clayton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Clayton County
  • Since West Yards is near Allamakee County and also Crawford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Allamakee County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Crawford 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 West Yards

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Yards ...

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.

• Eldergrove
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Eldergrove is located in Allamakee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldergrove
• Farmersburg
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Farmersburg is located in Clayton County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmersburg
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
• Glen Haven
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Glen Haven is located in Grant County (WI)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
• Harpers Ferry
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Harpers Ferry is located in Allamakee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Ferry
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harpers Ferry <1>
• Ion
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Ion is located in Allamakee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ion
• Maud
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Maud is located in Allamakee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maud
• Motor
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Motor is located in Clayton County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motor
• Mount Hope
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Mount Hope is located in Grant County (WI)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
• Sixteen
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Sixteen is located in Allamakee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixteen
• Yellow River
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Yellow River is located in Allamakee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow River

How Far From West Yards 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 West Yards to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in West Yards and extending to:

• Elkader, which is the Seat of Clayton County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Yards to Elkader, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
• Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 158 miles [254.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 790 miles [1,271.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,252 miles [10,061.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,000 miles [11,265.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,894 miles [7,876.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'