Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy).
When in Big Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Lake
- 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 Big Lake:
- 61.512836, -149.983334
- 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 Big Lake
- 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 Big Lake ...
We found nine communities that share the name Big Lake.
Within Alaska, the name Big Lake is unique.
Beyond Alaska, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- This Big Lake lies 2,830 miles [4,554.4 km]<1> to the east.
- Texas
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Lake ...
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.
- Birchwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast) - Cottonwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Eagle River
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle River
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle River <5>
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for John Fitzgerald Kennedy City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for John Fitzgerald Kennedy City
- Knik
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Meadow Lakes
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lakes
- Nancy Lake
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nancy Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy Lake
- Peters Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peters Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Creek
- Willow
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willow <5>
- Willow Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- 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
How Far From Big Lake 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 Big Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Lake and extending to:
- Juneau, which is the State Capital of Alaska, lies 581 miles [935 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Big Lake to Juneau, with an average speed<7>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 33 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 23 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 3,358 miles [5,404.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 7 days, a buggy would take 132 days and walking would take 191 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,980 miles [9,623.9 km] and it lies to the north (N).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,676 miles [10,744 km] and it lies to the north (N).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,220 miles [8,400.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Big Lake: www.biglake-ak.com/
The official website for State of Alaska: alaska.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Big Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 61.5128, Longitude: -149.9833 |
| <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 Big Lake 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 . 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 Big Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Big Lake to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 4.442 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 9.189 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 346.593 degrees. |