Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Trail, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Trail and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Trail
- 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 Trail:
- 47.783279, -95.697985
- 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 Trail
- 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Since Trail is near Red Lake County and also Clearwater County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Red Lake County
- eBird sighting report for Clearwater 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 Trail ...
We found six communities that share the name Trail.
Within Minnesota, the name Trail is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, five are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Trail lies 1,009 miles [1,623.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Trail that is located in Polk County.
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- British Columbia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Trail ...
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.
- Clearbrook
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearbrook
- Clearbrook is located in Clearwater County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 535 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clearbrook <4>
- Erie
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
- Erie is located in Pennington County
- Gully
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - High Landing
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Landing
- High Landing is located in Pennington County
- Leonard
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leonard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
- Leonard is located in Clearwater County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leonard <4>
- Mentor
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mentor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mentor
- Mentor is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mentor <4>
- River Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Valley
- River Valley is located in Pennington County
- Winger
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winger have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winger
- Winger is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winger <4>
How Far From Trail 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 Trail to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Trail and extending to:
- Crookston, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Trail to Crookston, with an average speed<5> 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 just about two full days.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 231 miles [371.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,115 miles [1,794.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,152 miles [9,900.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,913 miles [11,125.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,846 miles [7,798.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Trail. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.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 '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- Trail) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Trail. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.7833, Longitude: -95.6980 In this case, the coordinates for Trail 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 Trail, 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 Trail 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 320.036 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.507 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.261 degrees. |