Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Colton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Colton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Colton
- 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 Colton:
- 43.786999, -96.927847
- 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 Colton
- 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 Minnehaha County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Minnehaha County
- Since Colton is near Lake County and also Moody County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lake County
- eBird sighting report for Moody 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 Colton ...
We found nine communities that share the name Colton.
Within South Dakota, the name Colton is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Kentucky
- Nebraska
- New York
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Colton ...
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.
- Baltic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baltic have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltic
- Baltic is located in Minnehaha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,201 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baltic <4>
- Chester
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
- Chester is located in Lake County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chester <4>
- Crooks
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crooks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooks
- Crooks is located in Minnehaha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,341 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crooks <4>
- Dell Rapids
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dell Rapids
- Dell Rapids is located in Minnehaha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,666 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dell Rapids <4>
- Franklin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Humboldt
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Humboldt have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
- Humboldt is located in Minnehaha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 568 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Humboldt <4>
- Lyons
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
- Lyons is located in Minnehaha County
- Estimated population in 2014: 632 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyons <4>
- Skyline Heights
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skyline Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Heights
- Skyline Heights is located in Minnehaha County
How Far From Colton 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 Colton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Colton and extending to:
- Sioux Falls, which is the Seat of Minnehaha County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Colton to Sioux Falls, 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 6 hours.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 173 miles [278.4 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,081 miles [1,739.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 43 days and walking would take 62 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,402 miles [10,303 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,160 miles [11,522.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,075 miles [8,167.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Colton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Minnehaha County: www.minnehahacounty.org/
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Colton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Colton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7870, Longitude: -96.9278 |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Colton 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> | 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 Colton 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 320.888 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.969 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.927 degrees. |