Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alma Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alma Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alma Lake
- 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 Lake:
- 39.608377, -87.019457
- 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 Lake
- 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 Parke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Parke County
- Since Alma Lake is near Clay County and also Putnam County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clay County
- eBird sighting report for Putnam 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alma Lake ...
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.
- Carbon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Diamond
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Ferndale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Harmony
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Knightsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knightsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsville
- Knightsville is located in Clay County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 769 people
- Lena
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Limedale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limedale
- Limedale is located in Putnam County
- Mechanicsburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
- Mechanicsburg is located in Clay County
- Pleasant Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Gardens
- Pleasant Gardens is located in Putnam County
- Reelsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reelsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reelsville
- Reelsville is located in Putnam County
- Shady Lane
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Lane
- Shady Lane is located in Clay County
- Smockville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smockville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smockville
- Smockville is located in Parke County
- Superior
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Wickville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
How Far From Alma Lake 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 community such as Alma Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Alma Lake and extending to:
- Rockville, which is the Seat of Parke County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alma Lake to Rockville, with an average speed<3> 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 four to five hours.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 46 miles [74 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 535 miles [861 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,269 miles [10,089 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,999 miles [11,263.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,878 miles [7,850.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alma Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Alma Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alma Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6084, Longitude: -87.0195 In this case, the coordinates for Alma Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Lake to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.03 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.545 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.912 degrees. |