Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Burke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Burke and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Burke
- 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 Burke:
- 43.135906, -89.276088
- 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 Burke
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Dane County
- Since Burke is near Columbia County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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 Burke ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Burke.
Within Wisconsin, the name Burke is unique.
Beyond Wisconsin, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- New York
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Botetourt County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Burke [Botetourt County].
- Fairfax County
- This Burke is located in Fairfax County and lies 693 miles [1,115.3 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Burke that is located in Dane County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Burke.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Burke ...
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.
- Catfish ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Cottage Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
- Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Cottage Grove
- From Burke to Cottage Grove
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Darwin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
- Darwin is located in Dane County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Darwin
- From Burke to Darwin
- Elmside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Hope
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Maple Bluff
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
- Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
- Pebble Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pebble Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Valley
- Pebble Valley is located in Dane County
- Pierceville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
- Pierceville is located in Dane County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pierceville
- From Burke to Pierceville
- Raintree
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Seminary Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seminary Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Springs
- Seminary Springs is located in Dane County
- Sunburst
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Token Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Token Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Token Creek
- Token Creek is located in Dane County
How Far From Burke 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 Burke to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Burke and extending to:
- Madison, which is the Seat of Dane County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies just to the southwest (SW).
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 700 miles [1,126.5 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Burke to White House, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 40 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,180 miles [9,945.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,815 miles [7,749 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Burke: www.townofburke.com/
The official website for Dane County: www.co.dane.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Burke 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Burke) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Burke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1359, Longitude: -89.2761 In this case, the coordinates for Burke have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 Burke 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 315.532 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.758 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.033 degrees. |