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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 Hills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hills 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 Hills:
- 43.525724, -96.358706
- 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 Hills
- 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 Rock County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Rock County
- Since Hills is near Lyon County and also Minnehaha County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lyon County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Minnehaha 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 Hills
Communities Also Named Hills ...
We found sixteen communities that are also named Hills.
Within Minnesota, the name Hills is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of sixteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Hills lies 1,091 miles [1,755.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- California
- Sonoma County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Hills [Sonoma County].
- Georgia
- Habersham County
- This Hills is located in Habersham County and lies 922 miles [1,483.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Habersham County community of Hills.
- Iowa
- Johnson County
- This Hills is located in Johnson County and lies 280 miles [450.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Hills.
- Maryland
- Anne Arundel County
- This Hills is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 1,077 miles [1,733.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Hills.
- Prince George's County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maryland community of Hills [Prince George's County].
- North Carolina
- Stanly County
- This Hills is located in Stanly County and lies 1,026 miles [1,651.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stanly County community of Hills.
- Ohio
- Clermont County
- This Hills is located in Clermont County and lies 695 miles [1,118.5 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clermont County community of Hills.
- Cuyahoga County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Hills [Cuyahoga County].
- Pike County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Hills [Pike County].
- Washington County
- This Hills is located in Washington County and lies 824 miles [1,326.1 km] to the east southeast of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Hills.
- Ontario
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Hills.
- Pennsylvania
- Washington County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Hills [Washington County].
- Texas
- Lee County
- This Hills is located in Lee County and lies 921 miles [1,482.2 km]<1> to the south of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Hills.
- Travis County
- This Hills is located in Travis County and lies 914 miles [1,470.9 km] to the south of the Hills that is located in Rock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Travis County community of Hills.
- Utah
- Cache County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Utah community of Hills [Cache County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hills ...
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.
- Ash Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ash Creek is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash Creek
- Beaver Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Beaver Creek is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
- Bruce
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Bruce is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
- Granite
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Granite is located in Lyon County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
- Lester
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lester is located in Lyon County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Manley
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Manley is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manley
- Rock Rapids
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Valley Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Hills 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 Hills to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hills and extending to:
- Luverne, which is the Seat of Rock County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hills to Luverne, 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 189 miles [304.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,050 miles [1,689.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 60 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,398 miles [10,296.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,155 miles [11,514.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,067 miles [8,154.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Hills 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 Hills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Hills 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 Hills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5257, Longitude: -96.3587 In this case, the coordinates for Hills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.473 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.459 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.674 degrees. |
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