RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Dane County >> Dane >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dane, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dane 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 Dane:
    • 43.250269, -89.500398
    • 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 Dane
  • 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 Dane is near Columbia County and also Sauk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sauk 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 Dane

Communities Also Named Dane ...

We found three communities that are also named Dane.

Within Wisconsin, the name Dane is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of three communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Rankin County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Dane [Rankin County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Major County
      • This Dane is located in Major County and lies 685 miles [1,102.4 km]<2> to the southwest of the Dane that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Major County community of Dane.
    • Ontario
      • This Dane lies 565 miles [909.3 km]<2> to the northeast of the Dane that is located in Dane County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dane ...

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
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Catfish is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catfish
  • Cross Plains
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cross Plains is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Plains
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,280 people
  • Darwin ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Darwin is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
  • DeForest
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • DeForest is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeForest
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,915 people
  • Harmony Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
  • Lake Wisconsin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Wisconsin is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wisconsin
  • Lowville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lowville is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowville
  • Lutheran Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lutheran Hill is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lutheran Hill
  • Maple Bluff
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Martinsville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Martinsville is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
    • Moon Valley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Moon Valley is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Valley
    • Pheasant Branch
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
    • Raintree
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Raintree is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
    • Sunburst
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunburst is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburst
    • Token Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Token Creek is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Token Creek

How Far From Dane 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 Dane to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dane and extending to:

  • Madison, which is the Seat of Dane County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Dane to Madison, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 13 miles [20.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take 6 hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 714 miles [1,149.1 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 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,182 miles [9,949 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,928 miles [11,149.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,819 miles [7,755.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Dane, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dane) 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 Dane 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 Dane. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2503, Longitude: -89.5004       In this case, the coordinates for Dane have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.684 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.947 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.116 degrees.