RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Dakota >> Lincoln County >> Shindler >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Shindler, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shindler and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Shindler:
    • 43.474960, -96.648830
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Shindler
  • 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 Lincoln County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
    • Since Shindler is near Minnehaha County and also Lyon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Minnehaha County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lyon 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Shindler

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shindler ...

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.

  • Bruce
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Bruce is located in Rock County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
  • Elm Spring
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Elm Spring is located in Sioux County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Spring
  • Granite
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Granite is located in Lyon County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
  • Harrisburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hills
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Hills is located in Rock County (MN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 647 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hills <1>
  • Manley
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Skyline Heights
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Skyline Heights is located in Minnehaha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Heights
  • Split Rock Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Split Rock Heights is located in Minnehaha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Split Rock Heights
    • Estimated population in 2014: 216 people
  • Tea
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Valley Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)

How Far From Shindler 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 community such as Shindler to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Shindler and extending to:

  • Canton, which is the Seat of Lincoln County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Shindler to Canton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 194 miles [312.2 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,064 miles [1,712.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 42 days and walking would take 61 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,410 miles [10,315.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,167 miles [11,534.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,080 miles [8,175.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Shindler) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Shindler to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shindler. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4750, Longitude: -96.6488       In this case, the coordinates for Shindler have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.679 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.689 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.843 degrees.