Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cottage Grove, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cottage Grove and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cottage Grove
- 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 Cottage Grove:
- 44.833612, -92.938944
- 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 Cottage Grove
- 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Since Cottage Grove is near Dakota County and also Ramsey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Dakota County
- eBird sighting report for Ramsey 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 Cottage Grove ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Cottage Grove.
Within Minnesota, the name Cottage Grove is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Coosa County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Coosa County and lies 903 miles [1,453.2 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coosa County community of Cottage Grove.
- California
- Siskiyou County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Siskiyou County and lies 1,544 miles [2,484.8 km]<1> to the west of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Siskiyou County community of Cottage Grove.
- Connecticut
- Hartford County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Hartford County and lies 1,034 miles [1,664.1 km]<1> to the east of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hartford County community of Cottage Grove.
- Illinois
- Cook County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Cottage Grove [Cook County].
- Saline County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Saline County and lies 542 miles [872.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saline County community of Cottage Grove.
- Indiana
- Union County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Union County and lies 548 miles [881.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Cottage Grove.
- Iowa
- Polk County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Cottage Grove [Polk County].
- Kansas
- Allen County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Cottage Grove [Allen County].
- Maryland
- Somerset County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Somerset County and lies 1,004 miles [1,615.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Cottage Grove.
- Michigan
- Roscommon County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Cottage Grove [Roscommon County].
- Wayne County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Cottage Grove [Wayne County].
- Nebraska
- Richardson County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Richardson County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richardson County community of Cottage Grove.
- Ohio
- Summit County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Summit County and lies 635 miles [1,021.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Summit County community of Cottage Grove.
- Oregon
- Lane County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Lane County and lies 1,481 miles [2,383.4 km]<1> to the west of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lane County community of Cottage Grove.
- Pennsylvania
- Lawrence County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Lawrence County and lies 687 miles [1,105.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Cottage Grove.
- Tennessee
- Henry County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Henry County and lies 628 miles [1,010.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Cottage Grove.
- Wisconsin
- Dane County
- This Cottage Grove is located in Dane County and lies 221 miles [355.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cottage Grove that is located in Washington County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dane County community of Cottage Grove.
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cottage Grove ...
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.
- Cedar Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Cedar Grove is located in Dakota County
- Empire
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Glover
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Highwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Lake Elmo
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Elmo
- Lake Elmo is located in Washington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,280 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Elmo <5>
- Landfall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Maplewood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Maplewood is located in Ramsey County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40,653 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maplewood <5>
- Pine Bend
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Rich Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rich Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Valley
- Rich Valley is located in Dakota County
- Roseport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Sunfish Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunfish Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunfish Lake
- Sunfish Lake is located in Dakota County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 551 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sunfish Lake <5>
How Far From Cottage Grove to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Cottage Grove to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Cottage Grove and extending to:
- Stillwater, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Cottage Grove to Stillwater, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest (NW). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 912 miles [1,467.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,219 miles [10,008.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,973 miles [11,222 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,880 miles [7,853.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Cottage Grove: www.cottage-grove.org/
The official website for Washington County: www.co.washington.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.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- Cottage Grove) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cottage Grove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8336, Longitude: -92.9389 |
| <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 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 Cottage Grove 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> | 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 Cottage Grove, 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Cottage Grove to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.065 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.877 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.501 degrees. |