Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alto, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alto and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alto
- 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 Alto:
- 42.856699, -85.380294
- 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 Alto
- 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 Kent County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kent County
- Since Alto is near Ionia County and also Barry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ionia County
- eBird sighting report for Barry 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 Alto ...
We found eighteen communities that share the name Alto.
Within Michigan, the name Alto is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- South Dakota
- Codington County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Alto [Codington County].
- Hughes County
- This Alto is located in Hughes County and lies 743 miles [1,195.7 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Alto that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hughes County community of Alto.
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alto ...
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.
- Alaska
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Cascade
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Clarksville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarksville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
- Clarksville is located in Ionia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 395 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarksville <5>
- Elmdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
- Elmdale is located in Ionia County
- Freeport
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
- Freeport is located in Barry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 503 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <5>
- Holy Corners
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holy Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Corners
- Holy Corners is located in Kent County
- Kentwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kentwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentwood
- Kentwood is located in Kent County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 51,719 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kentwood <5>
- Welcome Corner
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Welcome Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome Corner
- Welcome Corner is located in Barry County
How Far From Alto to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Alto to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alto and extending to:
- Grand Rapids, which is the Seat of Kent County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<3> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alto to Grand Rapids, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 42 miles [67.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 513 miles [825.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 30 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,052 miles [9,739.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,790 miles [10,927.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,672 miles [7,518.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alto. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Kent County: www.accesskent.com/
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 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 Alto 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> | 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 Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8567, Longitude: -85.3803 In this case, the coordinates for Alto have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Alto 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 312.928 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.758 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.146 degrees. |