Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wirock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wirock and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Wirock
- 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 Wirock:
- 43.886908, -95.703622
- 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 Wirock
- 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 Murray County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Murray County
- Since Wirock is near Nobles County and also Cottonwood County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nobles County
- eBird sighting report for Cottonwood 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 Wirock ...
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.
- Current Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Current Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Current Lake
- Current Lake is located in Murray County
- Diamond Corner
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Corner
- Diamond Corner is located in Pipestone County
- Dundee
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Heron Lake
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heron Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heron Lake
- Heron Lake is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 643 people
- Lime Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lime Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Creek
- Lime Creek is located in Murray County
- Lowville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Reading
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Rushmore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
How Far From Wirock 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 Wirock to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Wirock and extending to:
- Slayton, which is the Seat of Murray County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 148 miles [238.2 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Wirock to Saint Paul, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,023 miles [1,646.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,358 miles [10,232.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,114 miles [11,448.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,026 miles [8,088.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Wirock. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Murray County: www.murray-countymn.com/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wirock) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wirock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.8869, Longitude: -95.7036 In this case, the coordinates for Wirock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Wirock to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.015 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.98 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.238 degrees. |