Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Anoka, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Anoka and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Anoka
- 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 Anoka:
- 45.197942, -93.383578
- 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 Anoka
- 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 Anoka County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Anoka County
- Since Anoka is near Hennepin County and also Ramsey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hennepin 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 Anoka ...
We found three communities that share the name Anoka.
Within Minnesota, the name Anoka is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Nebraska
- New York
Curious and Interesting Names Near Anoka ...
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.
- Blaine
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blaine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
- Blaine is located in Anoka County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 66,697 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blaine <4>
- Cedar
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
- Cedar is located in Anoka County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar <4>
- Constance
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Coon Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Creek
- Coon Creek is located in Anoka County
- Coon Rapids
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Rapids
- Coon Rapids is located in Anoka County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62,935 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coon Rapids <4>
- Ham Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ham Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ham Lake
- Ham Lake is located in Anoka County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,943 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ham Lake <4>
- Johnsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsville
- Johnsville is located in Anoka County
- Maple Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Maple Grove is located in Hennepin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72,881 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maple Grove <4>
- Mounds View
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mounds View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mounds View
- Mounds View is located in Ramsey County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,446 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mounds View <4>
- Oak Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Oak Grove is located in Anoka County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,027 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Grove <4>
- Rogers
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rogers have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Rogers is located in Hennepin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,623 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rogers <4>
How Far From Anoka 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 city such as Anoka to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Anoka and extending to:
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Anoka to Saint Paul, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 941 miles [1,514.4 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 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,215 miles [10,002.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,970 miles [11,217.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,880 miles [7,853.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Anoka: www.ci.anoka.mn.us/
The official website for Anoka County: www.co.anoka.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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Anoka) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Anoka. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.1979, Longitude: -93.3836 |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Anoka 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Anoka 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 318.38 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.284 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.647 degrees. |