Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Viking, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Viking and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Viking
- 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 Viking:
- 48.220489, -96.405996
- 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 Viking
- 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 Marshall County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- Since Viking is near Pennington County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pennington County
- eBird sighting report for Polk 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 Viking ...
We found five communities that share the name Viking.
Within Minnesota, the name Viking is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Viking lies 750 miles [1,207 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Viking that is located in Marshall County.
- California
- Florida
- North Dakota
- Wisconsin
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Viking ...
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.
- Argyle
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- Argyle is located in Marshall County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 641 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Argyle <3>
- Carpenters Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carpenters Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenters Corner
- Carpenters Corner is located in Pennington County
- Challenger Court
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Challenger Court have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challenger Court
- Challenger Court is located in Pennington County
- Dakota Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dakota Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota Junction
- Dakota Junction is located in Pennington County
- Dorothy
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south) - Euclid
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
- Euclid is located in Polk County
- Hazel
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast) - Luna
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west) - Radium
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Rosewood
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Thief River Falls
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thief River Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thief River Falls
- Thief River Falls is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,688 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thief River Falls <3>
How Far From Viking to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Viking to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Viking and extending to:
- Warren, which is the Seat of Marshall County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Viking to Warren, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 274 miles [441 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,158 miles [1,863.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 66 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,149 miles [9,895.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,912 miles [11,123.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,851 miles [7,806.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Viking. 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Viking) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Viking. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.2205, Longitude: -96.4060 |
| <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 Viking 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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 Viking 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 320.552 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.148 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.557 degrees. |