Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Swea, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swea and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Swea
- 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 Swea:
- 43.414680, -94.383582
- 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 Swea
- 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 Kossuth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kossuth County
- Since Swea is near Emmet County and also Martin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Emmet County
- eBird sighting report for Martin 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 Swea ...
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.
- Blue Earth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Earth
- Blue Earth is located in Faribault County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,098 people
- Former name for Blue Earth:
- Blue Earth City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Earth <1>
- Ceylon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ceylon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
- Ceylon is located in Martin County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 337 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ceylon <1>
- Fairville
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - German Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for German Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Valley
- German Valley is located in Kossuth County
- Granada
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granada have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granada
- Granada is located in Martin County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 280 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granada <1>
- Lakota
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east) - Lone Rock
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lone Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Rock
- Lone Rock is located in Kossuth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lone Rock <1>
- Maple Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill
- Maple Hill is located in Emmet County
- Pilot Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilot Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Grove
- Pilot Grove is located in Faribault County (MN)
- Welcome
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Welcome have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
- Welcome is located in Martin County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Welcome <1>
How Far From Swea 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 Swea to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Swea once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Swea and extending to:
- Algona, which is the Seat of Kossuth County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<4> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Swea to Algona, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 131 miles [210.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 952 miles [1,532.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,340 miles [10,203.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,094 miles [11,416.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,999 miles [8,045.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <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 Swea, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Swea) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swea. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4147, Longitude: -94.3836 In this case, the coordinates for Swea have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Swea 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 319.068 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.835 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.637 degrees. |