Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alpena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alpena and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alpena
- 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 Alpena:
- 38.909831, -79.651170
- 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 Alpena
- 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- Since Alpena is near Tucker County and also Pendleton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tucker County
- eBird sighting report for Pendleton 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 Alpena ...
We found five communities that share the name Alpena.
Within West Virginia, the name Alpena is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Nova Scotia
- This Alpena lies 853 miles [1,372.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alpena that is located in Randolph County.
- South Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alpena ...
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.
- Cheat Junction
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cheat Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheat Junction
- Cheat Junction is located in Randolph County
- Dryfork
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryfork
- Dryfork is located in Randolph County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dryfork <4>
- Elk
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Elk River Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk River Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River Junction
- Elk River Junction is located in Randolph County
- Evenwood
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Flint
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Harpertown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harpertown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpertown
- Harpertown is located in Randolph County
- Job
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Little Italy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Italy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
- Little Italy is located in Randolph County
- Lumber ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Meadows
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Mill Run ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Continue List (4 more) ...
- Perlytown ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Pleasant Run
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
- Pleasant Run is located in Tucker County
- Read
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Stringtown ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stringtown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Stringtown is located in Tucker County
- Perlytown ‑ Historic
How Far From Alpena 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 Alpena to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alpena and extending to:
- Elkins, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Alpena to Elkins, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 140 miles [225.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,007 miles [9,667.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,718 miles [10,811.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,594 miles [7,393.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alpena. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.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- Alpena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alpena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9098, Longitude: -79.6512 In this case, the coordinates for Alpena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Alpena 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 Alpena 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 309.446 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.212 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.821 degrees. |