Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merton
- 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 Merton:
- 44.763859, -97.861477
- 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 Merton
- 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 Clark County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Clark County
- Since Merton is near Spink County and also Kingsbury County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Spink County
- eBird sighting report for Kingsbury 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 Merton ...
We found four communities that share the name Merton.
Within South Dakota, the name Merton is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Merton lies 1,298 miles [2,088.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Merton that is located in Clark County.
- California
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- British Columbia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merton ...
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.
- Carpenter
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter
- Carpenter is located in Clark County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carpenter <3>
- Clark
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
- Clark is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clark <3>
- Garden City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garden City <3>
- Henry
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Henry is located in Codington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 264 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <3>
- Julian ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north) - Naples
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
- Naples is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
- Raymond
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
- Raymond is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymond <3>
- Success ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast) - Willow Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Lake
- Willow Lake is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willow Lake <3>
How Far From Merton 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 community such as Merton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Merton once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Merton and extending to:
- Clark, which is the Seat of Clark County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Merton to Clark, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 124 miles [199.6 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,141 miles [1,836.3 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,378 miles [10,264.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,139 miles [11,489.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,063 miles [8,148.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 from Point A (ie- Merton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7639, Longitude: -97.8615 In this case, the coordinates for Merton 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Merton 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> | 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 Merton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Merton to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.591 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.896 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.23 degrees. |