Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Leonidas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Leonidas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Leonidas
- 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 Leonidas:
- 42.022977, -85.351875
- 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 Leonidas
- 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 Saint Joseph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Joseph County
- Since Leonidas is near Kalamazoo County and also Branch County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kalamazoo County
- eBird sighting report for Branch 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 Leonidas ...
We found three communities that share the name Leonidas.
Within Michigan, the name Leonidas is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Minnesota
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Leonidas ...
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.
- Climax
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Colon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Colon is located in Saint Joseph County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <4>
- Cooks Mill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mill
- Cooks Mill is located in Kalamazoo County
- Factoryville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Factoryville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factoryville
- Factoryville is located in Kalamazoo County
- Joppa
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
- Joppa is located in Calhoun County
- Lemon Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lemon Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemon Park
- Lemon Park is located in Kalamazoo County
- Pavilion
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Pavillion Center
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
- Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
- Pine Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
- Pine Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Pine Ridge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Pine Ridge is located in Saint Joseph County
- Union City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
- Union City is located in Branch County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,564 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union City <4>
How Far From Leonidas 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 Leonidas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Leonidas and extending to:
- Centreville, which is the Seat of Saint Joseph County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Leonidas to Centreville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 63 miles [101.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 486 miles [782.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,091 miles [9,802.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,825 miles [10,983.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,706 miles [7,573.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Leonidas. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Saint Joseph County: www.stjosephcountymi.org/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Leonidas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Leonidas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0230, Longitude: -85.3519 |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Leonidas 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. |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Leonidas 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 312.932 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.64 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.401 degrees. |