Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Alanson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alanson and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Alanson

• 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 Alanson:
  • 45.442509, -84.787088
  • 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.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Alanson

• 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 Emmet County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Emmet County
  • Since Alanson is near Cheboygan County and also Charlevoix County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Cheboygan County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlevoix 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Alanson

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alanson ...

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.

• Cold Springs
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Cold Springs is located in Cheboygan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
• Epsilon
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Epsilon is located in Emmet County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epsilon
• Harbor Point
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Harbor Point is located in Emmet County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Point
• Harbor Springs
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Harbor Springs is located in Emmet County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Springs
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,203 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harbor Springs <1>
• Indian River
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Indian River is located in Cheboygan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Indian River <1>
• Indianville
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Indianville is located in Cheboygan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianville
• Pleasant View
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant View is located in Emmet County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
• Roaring Brook
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Roaring Brook is located in Emmet County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Brook
• Royal Oak Beach
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Royal Oak Beach is located in Cheboygan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oak Beach
• Wildwood
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Wildwood is located in Cheboygan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood

How Far From Alanson 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 village such as Alanson to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Alanson and extending to:

• Petoskey, which is the Seat of Emmet County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alanson to Petoskey, with an average speed<3> 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.
• Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 187 miles [300.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 600 miles [965.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,910 miles [9,511.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,653 miles [10,707 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,542 miles [7,309.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'