Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Iris, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Iris and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Iris
- 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 Iris:
- 46.725483, -113.637314
- 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 Iris
- 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 Missoula County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Missoula County
- Since Iris is near Granite County and also Ravalli County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Granite County
- eBird sighting report for Ravalli 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 Iris ...
We found eight communities that share the name Iris.
Within Montana, the name Iris is unique.
Beyond Montana, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Prince Edward Island
- South Carolina
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Iris ...
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.
- Bearmouth ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east) - Beartown ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east) - Carols Court
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carols Court have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carols Court
- Carols Court is located in Missoula County
- Copper Cliff ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copper Cliff have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Cliff
- Copper Cliff is located in Missoula County
- Eight Mile ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eight Mile have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eight Mile
- Eight Mile is located in Ravalli County
- Eightmile Saddle
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eightmile Saddle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eightmile Saddle
- Eightmile Saddle is located in Granite County
- Milltown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
- Milltown is located in Missoula County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milltown <5>
- Nimrod
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Quigley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Stump Town ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stump Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stump Town
- Stump Town is located in Granite County
- Sunset
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast) - Twin Creeks
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Creeks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Creeks
- Twin Creeks is located in Missoula County
How Far From Iris 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 Iris to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Iris and extending to:
- Missoula, which is the Seat of Missoula County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Iris to Missoula, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 77 miles [123.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,911 miles [3,075.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 75 days and walking would take 109 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,672 miles [10,737.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,440 miles [11,973.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,475 miles [8,811.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Iris. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Missoula County: www.co.missoula.mt.us/
The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Iris) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Iris. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.7255, Longitude: -113.6373 In this case, the coordinates for Iris 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 Iris 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> | 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 Iris, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Iris to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 333.743 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.106 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 322.259 degrees. |