Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blooming Prairie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blooming Prairie and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blooming Prairie
- 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 Blooming Prairie:
- 43.868407, -93.055628
- 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 Blooming Prairie
- 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 Steele County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Steele County
- Since Blooming Prairie is near Mower County and also Dodge County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mower County
- eBird sighting report for Dodge 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 Blooming Prairie ...
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.
- Andyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Bixby
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Corning
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Geneva
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geneva have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
- Geneva is located in Freeborn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 537 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geneva <2>
- Hayfield
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
- Hayfield is located in Dodge County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,337 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayfield <2>
- Hollandale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hollandale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollandale
- Hollandale is located in Freeborn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 298 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hollandale <2>
- Maple Island
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Island
- Maple Island is located in Freeborn County
- Mayville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Moscow
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Muckland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - River Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Point
- River Point is located in Steele County
- Union
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Union is located in Steele County
How Far From Blooming Prairie 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 Blooming Prairie to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Blooming Prairie and extending to:
- Owatonna, which is the Seat of Steele County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<3> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Blooming Prairie to Owatonna, with an average speed<4> 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 74 miles [119.1 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 896 miles [1,442 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,273 miles [10,095.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,025 miles [11,305.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,928 miles [7,930.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Blooming Prairie: www.bloomingprairie.com/
The official website for Steele County: www.co.steele.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Blooming Prairie) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blooming Prairie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8684, Longitude: -93.0556 In this case, the coordinates for Blooming Prairie have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Blooming Prairie 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 318.142 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.835 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.816 degrees. |