Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Good Thunder, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Good Thunder and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Good Thunder
- 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 Good Thunder:
- 44.006703, -94.070187
- 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 Good Thunder
- 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 Blue Earth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Blue Earth County
- Since Good Thunder is near Nicollet County and also Faribault County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nicollet County
- eBird sighting report for Faribault 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 Good Thunder ...
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.
- Amboy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amboy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amboy
- Amboy is located in Blue Earth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 505 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Amboy <2>
- Butternut
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Eagle Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
- Eagle Lake is located in Blue Earth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,123 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Lake <2>
- Garden City
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Blue Earth County
- Lake Crystal
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Crystal
- Lake Crystal is located in Blue Earth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,512 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Crystal <2>
- Minnesota Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minnesota Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnesota Lake
- Minnesota Lake is located in Faribault County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 640 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minnesota Lake <2>
- Skyline
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Tenmile Corner
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tenmile Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile Corner
- Tenmile Corner is located in Watonwan County
- Willow Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Willow Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
- Willow Creek is located in Blue Earth County
How Far From Good Thunder 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 Good Thunder to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Good Thunder and extending to:
- Mankato, which is the Seat of Blue Earth County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Good Thunder to Mankato, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 81 miles [130.4 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 947 miles [1,524 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,299 miles [10,137.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,053 miles [11,350.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,960 miles [7,982.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Good Thunder. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Blue Earth County: www.co.blue-earth.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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Good Thunder) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Good Thunder. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0067, Longitude: -94.0702 In this case, the coordinates for Good Thunder have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Good Thunder 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 318.857 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.671 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.326 degrees. |