Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shakopee, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shakopee and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shakopee
- 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 Shakopee:
- 44.774474, -93.475187
- 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 Shakopee
- 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 Scott County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Scott County
- Since Shakopee is near Hennepin County and also Carver County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hennepin County
- eBird sighting report for Carver 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shakopee ...
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.
- Carver
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carver
- Carver is located in Carver County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,863 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carver <1>
- Credit River
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Credit River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
- Credit River is located in Scott County
- Deer Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Eden Prairie
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Prairie
- Eden Prairie is located in Hennepin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64,894 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden Prairie <1>
- Glen Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Grainwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Jonathan
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Lydia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Marystown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Orchard Garden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Garden
- Orchard Garden is located in Dakota County
- Prior Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prior Lake
- Prior Lake is located in Scott County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 27,317 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prior Lake <1>
- Savage
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Savage have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savage
- Savage is located in Scott County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 32,858 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Savage <1>
How Far From Shakopee 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 Shakopee to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Shakopee and extending to:
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<4> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Shakopee to Saint Paul, with an average speed<5> 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 most of a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 935 miles [1,504.7 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 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,240 miles [10,042.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,994 miles [11,255.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,903 miles [7,890.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Shakopee: www.ci.shakopee.mn.us/
The official website for Scott County: www.co.scott.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/
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> | 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. |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Shakopee) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shakopee. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7745, Longitude: -93.4752 In this case, the coordinates for Shakopee have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Shakopee 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 318.444 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.301 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.809 degrees. |