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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Buffalo Prairie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Buffalo Prairie and the surrounding area.
- 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 Buffalo Prairie:
- 41.338548, -90.854715
- 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 Buffalo Prairie
- 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 Rock Island County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Rock Island County
- Since Buffalo Prairie is near Mercer County and also Muscatine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Muscatine 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 Buffalo Prairie
Curious and Interesting Names Near Buffalo Prairie ...
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.
- Buffalo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fairport
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Hamlet
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hamlet is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
- Illinois City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Illinois City is located in Rock Island County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinois City
- Joy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- New Era
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- New Era is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
- Petersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Mills ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Pine Mills is located in Muscatine County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills
- Sugar Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sugar Grove is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
How Far From Buffalo Prairie 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 Buffalo Prairie to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Buffalo Prairie and extending to:
- Rock Island, which is the Seat of Rock Island County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Buffalo Prairie to Rock Island, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 124 miles [199.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 747 miles [1,202.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,325 miles [10,179.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,069 miles [11,376.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,957 miles [7,977.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Buffalo Prairie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Buffalo Prairie 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 Buffalo Prairie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3385, Longitude: -90.8547 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.589 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.717 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.316 degrees. |
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