Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Swift, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swift and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Swift
- 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 Swift:
- 48.853319, -95.221344
- 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 Swift
- 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 Roseau County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Roseau County
- Since Swift is near Lake of the Woods County and also Beltrami County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lake of the Woods County
- eBird sighting report for Beltrami 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 Swift ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Swift.
Within Minnesota, the name Swift is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- British Columbia
- This Swift lies 1,251 miles [2,013.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Swift that is located in Roseau County.
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Swift ...
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.
- Birch Beach
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Birch Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birch Beach
- Birch Beach is located in Lake of the Woods County
- Buffalo Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo Point came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Point
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo Point <6>
- Fox
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox
- Fox is located in Roseau County
- Gates Corner
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gates Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gates Corner
- Gates Corner is located in Beltrami County
- Hickey
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest) - Long Point
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
- Long Point is located in Lake of the Woods County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
- Longworth
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Winner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Swift to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Swift to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Swift and extending to:
- Roseau, which is the Seat of Roseau County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Swift to Roseau, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 287 miles [461.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,131 miles [1,820.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 65 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,081 miles [9,786.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,844 miles [11,014.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,781 miles [7,694.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Swift. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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- Swift) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swift. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.8533, Longitude: -95.2213 In this case, the coordinates for Swift have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Swift 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. |
| <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 Swift, 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> | If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Swift to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.669 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.231 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.684 degrees. |