Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vilas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vilas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vilas
- 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 Vilas:
- 44.008571, -97.595283
- 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 Vilas
- 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 Miner County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Miner County
- Since Vilas is near Hanson County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hanson County
- eBird sighting report for Lake 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 Vilas ...
We found nine communities that share the name Vilas.
Within South Dakota, the name Vilas is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Florida
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vilas ...
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.
- Carthage
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
- Carthage is located in Miner County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <4>
- Epiphany
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Farmer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
- Farmer is located in Hanson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
- Farwell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest) - Forestburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestburg
- Forestburg is located in Sanborn County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 73 people
- Howard
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
- Howard is located in Miner County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 751 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Howard <4>
- Prairie Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Village have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
- Prairie Village is located in Lake County
- Estimated population in 2014: 18 people
- Unityville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unityville have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unityville
- Unityville is located in McCook County
- Estimated population in 2014: 52 people
How Far From Vilas 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 town such as Vilas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vilas and extending to:
- Howard, which is the Seat of Miner County, lies just to the East.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 137 miles [220.5 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Vilas to Pierre, with an average speed<6>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 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,117 miles [1,797.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,411 miles [10,317.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,170 miles [11,539 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,089 miles [8,190 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vilas. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Vilas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vilas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0086, Longitude: -97.5953 In this case, the coordinates for Vilas 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 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 Vilas 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> | 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 Vilas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <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 Vilas 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 321.376 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.557 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.246 degrees. |