Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Lake
- 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 Big Lake:
- 45.332530, -93.741877
- 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 Big Lake
- 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 Sherburne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Sherburne County
- Since Big Lake is near Wright County and also Hennepin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wright County
- eBird sighting report for Hennepin 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 Big Lake ...
We found nine communities that share the name Big Lake.
Within Minnesota, the name Big Lake is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alaska
- This Big Lake lies 2,469 miles [3,973.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Big Lake that is located in Sherburne County.
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- This Big Lake lies 564 miles [907.7 km]<1> to the east of the Big Lake that is located in Sherburne County.
- Texas
- Washington
- Alaska
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Lake ...
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.
- Buffalo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Buffalo is located in Wright County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,853 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo <5>
- Clear Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clear Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
- Clear Lake is located in Sherburne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 729 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clear Lake <5>
- Clearwater
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearwater have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearwater
- Clearwater is located in Wright County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,841 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clearwater <5>
- Crown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
- Crown is located in Isanti County
- Elk River
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk River have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River
- Elk River is located in Sherburne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 25,601 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk River <5>
- Hasty
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hasty
- Hasty is located in Wright County
- Maple Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Lake
- Maple Lake is located in Wright County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,149 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maple Lake <5>
- Nowthen
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east) - Rogers
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rogers have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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 <5>
- Silver Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Silver Creek is located in Wright County
How Far From Big Lake 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 Big Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Lake and extending to:
- Elk River, which is the Seat of Sherburne County, lies just to the East.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Big Lake to Saint Paul, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 961 miles [1,546.6 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 38 days and walking would take 55 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 6,975 miles [11,225.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,887 miles [7,864.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Big Lake: www.biglakemn.org/
The official website for Sherburne County: www.co.sherburne.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 '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- Big Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.3325, Longitude: -93.7419 |
| <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 Big Lake 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 Big Lake, 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 Big Lake 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 318.634 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.592 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.808 degrees. |