Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Altona, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Altona and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Altona
- 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 Altona:
- 43.539751, -85.313647
- 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 Altona
- 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 Mecosta County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mecosta County
- Since Altona is near Montcalm County and also Isabella County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Montcalm County
- eBird sighting report for Isabella 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 Altona ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Altona.
Within Michigan, the name Altona is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, nine are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Altona lies 1,793 miles [2,885.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Altona that is located in Mecosta County.
- Colorado
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Manitoba
- This Altona lies 697 miles [1,121.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Altona that is located in Mecosta County.
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Altona lies 306 miles [492.5 km]<1> to the east of the Altona that is located in Mecosta County.
- Wyoming
- British Columbia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Altona ...
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.
- Big Rapids
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rapids
- Big Rapids is located in Mecosta County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,408 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Rapids <5>
- Canadian Lakes
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadian Lakes
- Canadian Lakes is located in Mecosta County
- Coral
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coral
- Coral is located in Montcalm County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coral <5>
- Halls Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Corner
- Halls Corner is located in Mecosta County
- Howard City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howard City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard City
- Howard City is located in Montcalm County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,819 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Howard City <5>
- Lakeview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Lakeview is located in Montcalm County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 994 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lakeview <5>
- Oxbow
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west) - Rustford
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Six Lakes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Lakes
- Six Lakes is located in Montcalm County
- Six Lakes has also been known as:
- Six Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Six Lakes <5>
How Far From Altona 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 Altona to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Altona and extending to:
- Big Rapids, which is the Seat of Mecosta County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Altona to Big Rapids, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 535 miles [861 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,018 miles [9,685 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,757 miles [10,874.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,641 miles [7,469 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Altona. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Mecosta County: www.co.mecosta.mi.us/
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Altona) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Altona. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5398, Longitude: -85.3136 In this case, the coordinates for Altona have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Altona, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Altona 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. |
| <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 Altona 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 312.862 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.783 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.886 degrees. |