Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Hiles, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hiles and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Hiles
- 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 Hiles:
- 45.703849, -88.977341
- 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 Hiles
- 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 Forest County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Forest County
- Since Hiles is near Oneida County and also Florence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Oneida County
- eBird sighting report for Florence 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hiles ...
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.
- Clearwater Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearwater Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearwater Lake
- Clearwater Lake is located in Oneida County
- Gagen
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Jennings
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
- Jennings is located in Oneida County
- Keith ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south) - Long Lake
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast) - Mole Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mole Lake
- Mole Lake is located in Forest County
- Pelican Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelican Lake
- Pelican Lake is located in Oneida County
- Pratt Junction
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pratt Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Junction
- Pratt Junction is located in Oneida County
- Starks
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Sugar Camp
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Camp
- Sugar Camp is located in Oneida County
- Three Lakes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Lakes
- Three Lakes is located in Oneida County
How Far From Hiles to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Hiles to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Hiles and extending to:
- Crandon, which is the Seat of Forest County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hiles to Crandon, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 182 miles [292.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 768 miles [1,236 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,043 miles [9,725.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,794 miles [10,933.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,693 miles [7,552.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Hiles: www.townofhiles.org/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hiles) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hiles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.7038, Longitude: -88.9773 In this case, the coordinates for Hiles have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Hiles 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 315.28 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.835 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.099 degrees. |