Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in DeForest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to DeForest and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for DeForest
- 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 DeForest:
- 43.247615, -89.343879
- 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 DeForest
- 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 DeForest is near Columbia County and also Sauk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named DeForest ...
We found two communities that share the name DeForest.
Within Wisconsin, the name DeForest is unique.
Beyond Wisconsin, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Ohio
Curious and Interesting Names Near DeForest ...
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
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Dane
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Darwin ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Elmside
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Lowville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Maple Bluff
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- 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
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- 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
- Raintree
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Seminary Springs
(10 miles [16.1 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
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Token Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- 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 DeForest 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 DeForest to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in DeForest and extending to:
- Madison, which is the Seat of Dane County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from DeForest to Madison, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 12 miles [19.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 706 miles [1,136.2 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 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,177 miles [9,940.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,922 miles [11,139.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,813 miles [7,745.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for DeForest: www.vi.deforest.wi.us/
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 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 DeForest 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- DeForest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in DeForest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2476, Longitude: -89.3439 |
| <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 DeForest 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 315.577 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.825 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.036 degrees. |