Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Athens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Athens and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Athens
- 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 Athens:
- 42.086587, -85.235565
- 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 Athens
- 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Since Athens is near Kalamazoo County and also Saint Joseph County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kalamazoo County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Joseph 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 Athens ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Athens.
Within Michigan, the name Athens is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another 28 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 28 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Jewell County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Athens [Jewell County].
- Woodson County
- This Athens is located in Woodson County and lies 619 miles [996.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Athens that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodson County community of Athens.
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Ontario
- This Athens lies 497 miles [799.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Athens that is located in Calhoun County.
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Athens ...
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.
- Climax
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Colon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Colon is located in Saint Joseph County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <5>
- Cooks Mill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mill
- Cooks Mill is located in Kalamazoo County
- Factoryville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Factoryville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factoryville
- Factoryville is located in Kalamazoo County
- Joppa
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
- Joppa is located in Calhoun County
- Pavilion
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Pine Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
- Pine Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Stanley Corners
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanley Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley Corners
- Stanley Corners is located in Calhoun County
- Union City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
- Union City is located in Branch County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,564 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union City <5>
How Far From Athens 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 village such as Athens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Athens and extending to:
- Marshall, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Athens to Marshall, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 56 miles [90.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 483 miles [777.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,083 miles [9,789.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,818 miles [10,972.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,699 miles [7,562.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Athens. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Calhoun County: www.calhoun-mi.com/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Athens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Athens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0866, Longitude: -85.2356 In this case, the coordinates for Athens 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 Athens 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> | 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 Athens, 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 Athens 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 312.854 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.561 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.324 degrees. |