Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cologne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cologne and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cologne
- 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 Cologne:
- 44.769289, -93.792692
- 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 Cologne
- 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 Carver County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Carver County
- Since Cologne is near Scott County and also Hennepin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Scott 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 Cologne ...
We found four communities that share the name Cologne.
Within Minnesota, the name Cologne is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- New Jersey
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cologne ...
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.
- Assumption
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Assumption have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assumption
- Assumption is located in Carver County
- Carver
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carver have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carver
- Carver is located in Carver County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,863 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carver <4>
- Coney Island
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coney Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coney Island
- Coney Island is located in Carver County
- Eureka
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Green Isle
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Isle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Isle
- Green Isle is located in Sibley County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 552 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Green Isle <4>
- Jonathan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Jordan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
- Jordan is located in Scott County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,420 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jordan <4>
- Maple
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Marystown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - New Germany
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Germany have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Germany
- New Germany is located in Carver County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Germany <4>
- Plato
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plato have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato
- Plato is located in McLeod County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plato <4>
- Young America
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Young America have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young America
- Young America is located in Carver County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Young America <4>
How Far From Cologne 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 Cologne to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Cologne and extending to:
- Chaska, which is the Seat of Carver County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Cologne to Chaska, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 36 miles [57.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 950 miles [1,528.9 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 6,250 miles [10,058.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,005 miles [11,273.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,915 miles [7,909.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Cologne. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Carver County: www.co.carver.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 from Point A (ie- Cologne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cologne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7693, Longitude: -93.7927 In this case, the coordinates for Cologne have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Cologne 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 Cologne 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 318.669 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.556 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.983 degrees. |