Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Blue Mounds:
  • 43.020830, -89.826234
  • 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 Blue Mounds

• 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 Dane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Dane County
  • Since Blue Mounds is near Iowa County and also Lafayette County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Iowa County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lafayette 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 Blue Mounds

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Mounds ...

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.

• Arena
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Arena is located in Iowa County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
• Black Earth
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Black Earth is located in Dane County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Earth
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,422 people
• Coon Rock
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Coon Rock is located in Iowa County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Rock
• Cross Plains
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Cross Plains is located in Dane County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Plains
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,280 people
• Forward
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Forward is located in Dane County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forward
• Hollandale
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Hollandale is located in Iowa County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollandale
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
• Jonesdale
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Jonesdale is located in Iowa County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesdale
• Little Norway
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Little Norway is located in Dane County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Norway
• Mount Horeb
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Mount Horeb is located in Dane County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Horeb
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,563 people
• Pleasant Ridge
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Ridge is located in Iowa County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
• Vermont
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Vermont is located in Dane County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermont

How Far From Blue Mounds 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 village such as Blue Mounds to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Blue Mounds and extending to:

• Madison, which is the Seat of Dane County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Blue Mounds to Madison, with an average speed<2> 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.
• Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 21 miles [33.8 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 724 miles [1,165.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,205 miles [9,986 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,951 miles [11,186.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,842 miles [7,792.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'