Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Branstad

• 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 Branstad:
  • 45.737454, -92.682983
  • 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 Branstad

• 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 Burnett County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Burnett County
  • Since Branstad is near Polk County and also Pine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Pine 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 Branstad

Curious and Interesting Names Near Branstad ...

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.

• Alpha
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Alpha is located in Burnett County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
• Atlas
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Atlas is located in Polk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
• Four Corners
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Four Corners is located in Burnett County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
• Frederic
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Frederic is located in Polk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederic
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,080 people
• Pole Cat Crossing
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Pole Cat Crossing is located in Burnett County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pole Cat Crossing
• Randall
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Randall is located in Burnett County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randall
• Rock Creek
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Rock Creek is located in Pine County (MN)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,658 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rock Creek <1>
• Trade Lake
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Trade Lake is located in Burnett County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trade Lake
• Trade River
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Trade River is located in Burnett County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trade River

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

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

• Grantsburg, which is the Seat of Burnett County, lies just to the North.
• Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 245 miles [394.3 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Branstad to Madison, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 925 miles [1,488.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 53 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,164 miles [9,920 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,920 miles [11,136.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,830 miles [7,773.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'