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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 Minnesota Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Minnesota Lake 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 Minnesota Lake:
- 43.840544, -93.827328
- 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 Minnesota Lake
- 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 Faribault County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Faribault County
- Since Minnesota Lake is near Blue Earth County and also Waseca County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Blue Earth County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Waseca 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 Minnesota Lake
Curious and Interesting Names Near Minnesota Lake ...
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
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Blue Earth
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Blue Earth is located in Faribault County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Earth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,098 people
- Former name for Blue Earth:
- Blue Earth City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Earth <1>
- Dell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Dell is located in Faribault County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dell
- Freeborn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Frost
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Good Thunder
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hartland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Hartland is located in Freeborn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Janesville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Vista
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Vista is located in Waseca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
How Far From Minnesota Lake to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Minnesota Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Minnesota Lake and extending to:
- Blue Earth, which is the Seat of Faribault County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Minnesota Lake to Blue Earth, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 84 miles [135.2 km] to the north northeast (NNE). 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 932 miles [1,499.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving 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 6,300 miles [10,138.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,053 miles [11,350.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,958 miles [7,979.1 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Minnesota Lake) 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 Minnesota Lake 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 Minnesota Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8405, Longitude: -93.8273 In this case, the coordinates for Minnesota Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.684 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.451 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.236 degrees. |
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