Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McFarland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McFarland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McFarland
- 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 McFarland:
- 43.018887, -89.294006
- 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 McFarland
- 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 McFarland is near Rock County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rock 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 McFarland ...
We found eight communities that share the name McFarland.
Within Wisconsin, the name McFarland is unique.
Beyond Wisconsin, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- McMinn 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 Tennessee community of McFarland [McMinn County].
- Polk County
- This McFarland is located in Polk County and lies 601 miles [967.2 km]<2> to the south southeast of the McFarland that is located in Dane County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of McFarland.
Curious and Interesting Names Near McFarland ...
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.
- Cottage Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
- Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Door Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Door Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
- Door Creek is located in Dane County
- Elmside
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Hope
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Lakeview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Maple Bluff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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
- Oak Hall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hall
- Oak Hall is located in Dane County
- Oregon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Pilgrim Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilgrim Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Village
- Pilgrim Village is located in Dane County
- Pleasant Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Dane County
- Red Bridge Crossing
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Bridge Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bridge Crossing
- Red Bridge Crossing is located in Dane County
- Seminary Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seminary Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Springs
- Seminary Springs is located in Dane County
How Far From McFarland 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 village such as McFarland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McFarland and extending to:
- Madison, which is the Seat of Dane County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies just to the northwest (NW).
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 698 miles [1,123.3 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from McFarland 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 6,186 miles [9,955.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,931 miles [11,154.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,821 miles [7,758.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for McFarland: www.mcfarland.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 McFarland 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McFarland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McFarland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0189, Longitude: -89.2940 In this case, the coordinates for McFarland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 McFarland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 McFarland 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 315.544 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.756 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.075 degrees. |