Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alston
- 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 Alston:
- 46.768267, -88.753191
- 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 Alston
- 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 Houghton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Houghton County
- Since Alston is near Baraga County and also Ontonagon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Baraga County
- eBird sighting report for Ontonagon 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 Alston ...
We found nine communities that share the name Alston.
Within Michigan, the name Alston is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Montgomery County
- This Alston is located in Montgomery County and lies 1,067 miles [1,717.2 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Alston that is located in Houghton County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Alston.
- Stewart 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 Georgia community of Alston [Stewart County].
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alston ...
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.
- Alberta
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
- Alberta is located in Baraga County
- Bear Town
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Bovine
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east) - Frost
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Greenland
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
- Greenland is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenland <5>
- Hazel
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Mass City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mass City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mass City
- Mass City is located in Ontonagon County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mass City <5>
- Twin Lakes
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in Houghton County
How Far From Alston 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 Alston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alston and extending to:
- Houghton, which is the Seat of Houghton County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Alston to Houghton, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 346 miles [556.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 802 miles [1,290.7 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,984 miles [9,630.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,736 miles [10,840.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,640 miles [7,467.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Alston 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> | 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- Alston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.7683, Longitude: -88.7532 In this case, the coordinates for Alston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Alston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Alston 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 315.085 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.768 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.629 degrees. |