Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Altoona, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Altoona and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Altoona
- 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 Altoona:
- 44.804960, -91.442104
- 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 Altoona
- 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 Eau Claire County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Eau Claire County
- Since Altoona is near Chippewa County and also Dunn County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Chippewa County
- eBird sighting report for Dunn 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 Altoona ...
We found ten communities that share the name Altoona.
Within Wisconsin, the name Altoona is unique.
Beyond Wisconsin, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Florida
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Altoona ...
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.
- Allen
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Allen is located in Eau Claire County
- Caryville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Elk Mound
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Howard
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Nix Corner
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nix Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix Corner
- Nix Corner is located in Eau Claire County
- Norma
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Oak Grove ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Rock Falls
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Falls
- Rock Falls is located in Dunn County
- Union
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Altoona 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 city such as Altoona to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Altoona and extending to:
- Eau Claire, which is the Seat of Eau Claire County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 156 miles [251.1 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Altoona to Madison, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 844 miles [1,358.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,171 miles [9,931.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,923 miles [11,141.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,825 miles [7,765.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Altoona: www.ci.altoona.wi.us/
The official website for Eau Claire County: www.co.eau-claire.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Altoona) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Altoona. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8050, Longitude: -91.4421 In this case, the coordinates for Altoona 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 Altoona 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 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. |
| <5> | 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 Altoona to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.014 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.676 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.699 degrees. |