Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alcona, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alcona and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alcona
- 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 Alcona:
- 44.759945, -83.297706
- 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 Alcona
- 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 Alcona County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Alcona County
- Since Alcona is near Alpena County and also Iosco County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Alpena County
- eBird sighting report for Iosco 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 Alcona ...
We found two communities that share the name Alcona.
Within Michigan, the name Alcona is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other two communities are located in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alcona ...
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.
- Flanders
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanders
- Flanders is located in Alpena County
- Greenbush
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
- Greenbush is located in Alcona County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenbush <2>
- Killmaster
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Killmaster have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killmaster
- Killmaster is located in Alcona County
- Lincoln
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Lincoln is located in Alcona County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lincoln <2>
- Lincoln Junction
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Junction
- Lincoln Junction is located in Iosco County
- Lost Lake Woods
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Lake Woods
- Lost Lake Woods is located in Alcona County
- Mikado
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikado
- Mikado is located in Alcona County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mikado <2>
- Rockport
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north) - Spruce
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce
- Spruce is located in Alcona County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spruce <2>
How Far From Alcona 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 community such as Alcona to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Alcona and extending to:
- Harrisville, which is the Seat of Alcona County, lies just to the South.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 153 miles [246.2 km]<4> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Alcona to Lansing, with an average speed<5>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 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 516 miles [830.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,887 miles [9,474.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,626 miles [10,663.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,511 miles [7,259.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alcona. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Alcona 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alcona) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alcona. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7599, Longitude: -83.2977 |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Alcona to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.462 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.382 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.424 degrees. |