Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alma and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alma
- 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 Alma:
- 43.379475, -84.654727
- 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 Alma
- 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 Gratiot County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Gratiot County
- Since Alma is near Isabella County and also Midland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Isabella County
- eBird sighting report for Midland 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 Alma ...
We found 41 communities that share the name Alma.
Within Michigan, the name Alma is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another 41 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 41 communities, 36 are located in the United States and five are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Santa Clara County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Alma [Santa Clara County].
- Santa Cruz County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Alma [Santa Cruz County].
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Bacon County
- This Alma is located in Bacon County and lies 826 miles [1,329.3 km]<1> to the south of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bacon County community of Alma.
- Decatur County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Alma [Decatur County].
- Gilmer County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Alma [Gilmer County].
- Illinois
- Marion County
- This Alma is located in Marion County and lies 390 miles [627.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Alma.
- Saint Clair County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Alma [Saint Clair County].
- Kansas
- Osage County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Alma [Osage County].
- Wabaunsee County
- This Alma is located in Wabaunsee County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wabaunsee County community of Alma.
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Brunswick
- This Alma lies 980 miles [1,577.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- New Mexico
- Catron County
- This Alma is located in Catron County and lies 1,475 miles [2,373.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Catron County community of Alma.
- Socorro County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Alma [Socorro County].
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Nova Scotia
- This Alma lies 1,085 miles [1,746.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- Ohio
- Henry County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Henry County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Alma.
- Ross County
- This Alma is located in Ross County and lies 302 miles [486 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ross County community of Alma.
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Alma lies 209 miles [336.4 km]<1> to the east of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- Oregon
- Prince Edward Island
- This Alma lies 1,026 miles [1,651.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- Quebec
- This Alma lies 717 miles [1,153.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Clay County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Alma [Clay County].
- Ellis County
- This Alma is located in Ellis County and lies 1,001 miles [1,611 km]<1> to the southwest of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ellis County community of Alma.
- Hidalgo County
- This Alma is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,400 miles [2,253.1 km] to the southwest of the Alma that is located in Gratiot County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of Alma.
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alma ...
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.
- Elm Hall
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Eugene
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Ithaca
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ithaca have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithaca
- Ithaca is located in Gratiot County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,744 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ithaca <5>
- Pompeii
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pompeii
- Pompeii is located in Gratiot County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pompeii <5>
- Rathbone
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Redstone
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstone
- Redstone is located in Midland County
- Shepherd
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherd
- Shepherd is located in Isabella County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,490 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shepherd <5>
- Sickles
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sickles
- Sickles is located in Gratiot County
- Teeterville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Teeterville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teeterville
- Teeterville is located in Midland County
How Far From Alma 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 city such as Alma to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alma and extending to:
- Ithaca, which is the Seat of Gratiot County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 44 miles [70.8 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Alma to Lansing, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 502 miles [807.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,001 miles [9,657.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,739 miles [10,845.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,621 miles [7,436.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Alma: www.ci.alma.mi.us/
The official website for Gratiot County: www.co.gratiot.mi.us/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3795, Longitude: -84.6547 In this case, the coordinates for Alma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Alma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Alma 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. |
| <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> | 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 Alma 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 312.431 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.271 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.608 degrees. |