Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Epsom, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Epsom and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Epsom
- 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 Epsom:
- 44.262186, -93.056042
- 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 Epsom
- 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 Rice County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Rice County
- Since Epsom is near Goodhue County and also Steele County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Goodhue County
- eBird sighting report for Steele 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 Epsom ...
We found four communities that share the name Epsom.
Within Minnesota, the name Epsom is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Epsom ...
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.
- Bombay
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Cannon City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cannon City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon City
- Cannon City is located in Rice County
- Cannon Falls
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cannon Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon Falls
- Cannon Falls is located in Goodhue County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,022 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cannon Falls <4>
- Dodge Center
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dodge Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge Center
- Dodge Center is located in Dodge County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,798 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dodge Center <4>
- Eden
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast) - Havana
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Havana is located in Steele County
- Little Chicago
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Chicago have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Chicago
- Little Chicago is located in Rice County
- Prairieville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairieville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Prairieville is located in Rice County
- Randolph
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
- Randolph is located in Dakota County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
- Rice Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Shieldsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shieldsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shieldsville
- Shieldsville is located in Rice County
- Skyberg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Epsom 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 community such as Epsom to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Epsom and extending to:
- Faribault, which is the Seat of Rice County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Epsom to Faribault, 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 47 miles [75.6 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 904 miles [1,454.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,252 miles [10,061.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,006 miles [11,275.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,910 miles [7,901.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Epsom. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Rice County: www.co.rice.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- Epsom) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Epsom. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2622, Longitude: -93.0560 In this case, the coordinates for Epsom 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 Epsom 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 Epsom 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 318.145 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.892 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.715 degrees. |