Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Elko, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elko and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Elko
- 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 Elko:
- 44.564686, -93.326889
- 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 Elko
- 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 Scott County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Scott County
- Since Elko is near Rice County and also Dakota County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rice County
- eBird sighting report for Dakota 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 Elko ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Elko.
Within Minnesota, the name Elko is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eleven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- British Columbia
- This Elko lies 1,073 miles [1,726.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Elko that is located in Scott County.
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Elko ...
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.
- Antlers Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Antlers Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antlers Park
- Antlers Park is located in Dakota County
- Castle Rock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
- Castle Rock is located in Dakota County
- Cedar Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
- Cedar Lake is located in Scott County
- Credit River
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Credit River have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
- Credit River is located in Scott County
- Deer Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Eureka Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Center
- Eureka Center is located in Dakota County
- Lakeville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville
- Lakeville is located in Dakota County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 69,583 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lakeville <5>
- Little Chicago
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Chicago have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Chicago
- Little Chicago is located in Rice County
- Lydia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Wheatland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Elko 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 Elko to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Elko and extending to:
- Shakopee, which is the Seat of Scott County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Elko to Shakopee, with an average speed<6> 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 29 miles [46.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 923 miles [1,485.4 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 36 days and walking would take 53 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,246 miles [10,052 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,000 miles [11,265.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,907 miles [7,897.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Elko: www.ci.elko.mn.us/
The official website for Scott County: www.co.scott.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- Elko) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elko. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.5647, Longitude: -93.3269 In this case, the coordinates for Elko 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 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 Elko 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 Elko, 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 Elko 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 318.338 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.152 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.783 degrees. |