Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rio, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rio and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rio
- 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 Rio:
- 43.450263, -89.237893
- 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 Rio
- 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 Columbia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- Since Rio is near Dane County and also Dodge County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Dane County
- eBird sighting report for Dodge 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 Rio ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Rio.
Within Wisconsin, the name Rio is unique.
Beyond Wisconsin, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- New York
- North Dakota
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rio ...
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.
- Columbus
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Columbus is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,117 people
- DeForest
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeForest
- DeForest is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,915 people
- East Friesland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Friesland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Friesland
- East Friesland is located in Columbia County
- Fall River
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Fall River is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,757 people
- Friesland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Lost Lake
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Lowville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Pardeeville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pardeeville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardeeville
- Pardeeville is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,053 people
- Portage
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
- Portage is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,381 people
- Randolph
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Rio 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 Rio to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rio and extending to:
- Portage, which is the Seat of Columbia County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rio to Portage, with an average speed<4> 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 27 miles [43.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- 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 6,163 miles [9,918.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,909 miles [11,119 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,800 miles [7,724.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rio. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Columbia County: www.co.columbia.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rio) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rio. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4503, Longitude: -89.2379 In this case, the coordinates for Rio have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rio 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. |
| <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 Rio 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 315.503 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.77 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.922 degrees. |