Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wren, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wren and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Wren
- 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 Wren:
- 42.645548, -96.286415
- 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 Wren
- 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 Plymouth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
- Since Wren is near Woodbury County and also Dakota County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Woodbury County
- eBird sighting report for Dakota 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 Wren ...
We found six communities that share the name Wren.
Within Iowa, the name Wren is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Ohio
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Wren ...
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.
- Evergreen Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
- Evergreen Village is located in Woodbury County
- Holiday Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Village
- Holiday Village is located in Woodbury County
- James
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
- James is located in Plymouth County
- Merrill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill
- Merrill is located in Plymouth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 723 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Merrill <4>
- Neptune
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Plymouth ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Ruble
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Union Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center
- Union Center is located in Plymouth County
- Yeomans
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Wren 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 Wren to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Wren and extending to:
- Le Mars, which is the Seat of Plymouth County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wren to Le Mars, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 154 miles [247.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,036 miles [1,667.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,443 miles [10,369 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,198 miles [11,584.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,105 miles [8,215.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Wren. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Plymouth County: www.co.plymouth.ia.us/
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wren) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wren. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6455, Longitude: -96.2864 In this case, the coordinates for Wren 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Wren 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 Wren 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 320.392 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.255 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.825 degrees. |