Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Plato, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plato and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Plato
- 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 Plato:
- 44.773515, -94.040496
- 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 Plato
- 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 McLeod County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McLeod County
- Since Plato is near Carver County and also Sibley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Carver County
- eBird sighting report for Sibley 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 Plato ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Plato.
Within Minnesota, the name Plato is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- Saskatchewan
- This Plato lies 797 miles [1,282.6 km]<2> to the northwest of the Plato that is located in McLeod County.
- Tennessee
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Plato ...
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.
- Assumption
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Assumption have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assumption
- Assumption is located in Carver County
- Coney Island
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coney Island have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coney Island
- Coney Island is located in Carver County
- Green Isle
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Isle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Isle
- Green Isle is located in Sibley County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 552 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Green Isle <5>
- Lester Prairie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lester Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester Prairie
- Lester Prairie is located in McLeod County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,724 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lester Prairie <5>
- Maple
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - New Germany
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Germany have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Germany
- New Germany is located in Carver County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Germany <5>
- Silver Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in McLeod County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Lake <5>
- Sunrise Court
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Court have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Court
- Sunrise Court is located in McLeod County
- Young America
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Young America have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young America
- Young America is located in Carver County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Young America <5>
How Far From Plato 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 Plato to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Plato and extending to:
- Glencoe, which is the Seat of McLeod County, lies just to the West.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Plato to Saint Paul, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 961 miles [1,546.6 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 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,258 miles [10,071.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,014 miles [11,287.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,924 miles [7,924.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plato. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for McLeod County: www.co.mcleod.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Plato 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Plato) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plato. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7735, Longitude: -94.0405 In this case, the coordinates for Plato have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Plato, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Plato 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 318.845 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.758 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.117 degrees. |