Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Madison, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Madison and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Madison
- 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 Madison:
- 45.012739, -96.188688
- 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 Madison
- 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 Lac qui Parle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lac qui Parle County
- Since Madison is near Swift County and also Chippewa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Swift County
- eBird sighting report for Chippewa 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 Madison ...
We found 41 communities that share the name Madison.
There is one other community in Minnesota which is also named Madison.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another 40 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 40 communities, 40 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Minnesota ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Jefferson County
- This Madison is located in Jefferson County and lies 938 miles [1,509.6 km]<2> to the southeast of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Madison.
- Madison County
- This Madison is located in Madison County and lies 868 miles [1,396.9 km] to the southeast of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Madison.
- Montgomery County
- This Madison is located in Montgomery County and lies 1,019 miles [1,639.9 km] to the southeast of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Madison.
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Clay County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Madison [Clay County].
- Greenwood County
- This Madison is located in Greenwood County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<2> to the south of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenwood County community of Madison.
- Riley County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Madison [Riley County].
- Maine
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Calhoun County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Madison [Calhoun County].
- Lenawee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Madison [Lenawee County].
- Livingston County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Madison [Livingston County].
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Jackson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Madison [Jackson County].
- Lake County
- This Madison is located in Lake County and lies 790 miles [1,271.4 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Madison.
- Richland County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Madison [Richland County].
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Madison lies 728 miles [1,171.6 km]<2> to the northwest of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- South Carolina
- Aiken County
- This Madison is located in Aiken County and lies 1,099 miles [1,768.7 km]<2> to the southeast of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aiken County community of Madison.
- Oconee County
- This Madison is located in Oconee County and lies 991 miles [1,594.9 km] to the southeast of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconee County community of Madison.
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Madison County
- This Madison is located in Madison County and lies 1,028 miles [1,654.4 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Madison that is located in Lac qui Parle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Madison.
- Orange County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Madison [Orange County].
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Madison ...
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.
- Artichoke
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north) - Big Stone City
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Stone City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Stone City
- Big Stone City is located in Grant County (SD)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 451 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Stone City <5>
- Burr
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest) - Cashtown
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest) - Gary
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gary have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
- Gary is located in Deuel County (SD)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <5>
- Louisburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Providence
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Lac qui Parle County
- Spring Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Spring Creek is located in Yellow Medicine County
How Far From Madison 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 city such as Madison to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Madison and extending to:
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 151 miles [243 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Madison to Saint Paul, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,066 miles [1,715.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 61 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,314 miles [10,161.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,072 miles [11,381.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,991 miles [8,032.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Madison: www.ci.madison.mn.us/
The official website for Lac qui Parle County: www.ci.madison.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Madison, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Madison) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Madison. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.0127, Longitude: -96.1887 In this case, the coordinates for Madison have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Madison 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. |
| <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 Madison 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 320.385 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.547 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.242 degrees. |