Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Searles, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Searles and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Searles
- 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 Searles:
- 44.228574, -94.434692
- 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 Searles
- 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 Brown County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Brown County
- Since Searles is near Blue Earth County and also Nicollet County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Blue Earth County
- eBird sighting report for Nicollet 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 Searles ...
We found three communities that share the name Searles.
Within Minnesota, the name Searles is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Ohio
Curious and Interesting Names Near Searles ...
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.
- Butternut
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Garden City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Blue Earth County
- Iberia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iberia
- Iberia is located in Brown County
- Lake Crystal
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Crystal
- Lake Crystal is located in Blue Earth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,512 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Crystal <4>
- New Sweden
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Sweden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sweden
- New Sweden is located in Nicollet County
- Poor Farm Landing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poor Farm Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poor Farm Landing
- Poor Farm Landing is located in Nicollet County
- Sleepy Eye
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sleepy Eye have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Eye
- Sleepy Eye is located in Brown County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,329 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sleepy Eye <4>
- Stark
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Tenmile Corner
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tenmile Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile Corner
- Tenmile Corner is located in Watonwan County
How Far From Searles 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 Searles to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Searles and extending to:
- New Ulm, which is the Seat of Brown County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 82 miles [132 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from Searles to Saint Paul, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 968 miles [1,557.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 38 days and walking would take 55 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,299 miles [10,137.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,054 miles [11,352.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,963 miles [7,987.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Searles. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Brown County: www.co.brown.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Searles) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Searles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2286, Longitude: -94.4347 In this case, the coordinates for Searles have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Searles, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Searles to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.118 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.999 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.468 degrees. |