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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Grainwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grainwood and the surrounding area.
- 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 Grainwood:
- 44.722186, -93.439395
- 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.
- Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Grainwood
- 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:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Scott County
- Since Grainwood is near Hennepin County and also Dakota County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Hennepin County
- Open the 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Grainwood
Curious and Interesting Names Near Grainwood ...
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
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Antlers Park is located in Dakota County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antlers Park
- Carver
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Cedar Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Cedar Lake is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
- Credit River
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Credit River is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
- Deer Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Deer Park is located in Dakota County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
- Eden Prairie
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jonathan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jonathan is located in Carver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonathan
- Jordan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Lakeville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lydia
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lydia is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
- Marystown
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Marystown is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marystown
- Orchard Garden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Orchard Garden is located in Dakota County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Garden
- Prior Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Savage
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Grainwood to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Grainwood to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Grainwood and extending to:
- Shakopee, which is the Seat of Scott County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 23 miles [37 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Grainwood to Saint Paul, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 932 miles [1,499.9 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 37 days and walking would take 53 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,241 miles [10,043.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,996 miles [11,259 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,904 miles [7,892.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Grainwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Grainwood to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grainwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7222, Longitude: -93.4394 In this case, the coordinates for Grainwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.418 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.264 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.803 degrees. |
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