Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Birchdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Birchdale and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Birchdale
- 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 Birchdale:
- 48.626905, -94.101850
- 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 Birchdale
- 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 Koochiching County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Koochiching County
- Since Birchdale is near Lake of the Woods County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Lake of the Woods 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 Birchdale ...
We found two communities that share the name Birchdale.
Within Minnesota, the name Birchdale is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Birchdale lies 1,024 miles [1,648 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Birchdale that is located in Koochiching County.
- Virginia
- British Columbia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Birchdale ...
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.
- Black Hawk
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Hawk came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Hawk
- Border
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border
- Border is located in Koochiching County
- Box Alder
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east) - Central
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Dance
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast) - Dearlock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Finland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast) - Frontier
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Gameland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Birchdale 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 community such as Birchdale to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Birchdale and extending to:
- International Falls, which is the Seat of Koochiching County, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Birchdale to International Falls, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 258 miles [415.2 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,080 miles [1,738.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 43 days and walking would take 62 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,060 miles [9,752.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,821 miles [10,977.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,753 miles [7,649.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Birchdale. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Koochiching County: www.co.koochiching.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- Birchdale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Birchdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.6269, Longitude: -94.1018 In this case, the coordinates for Birchdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database. |
| <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 Birchdale 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 318.853 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.28 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.091 degrees. |