RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Barry County >> Banfield >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Banfield:
    • 42.463830, -85.288475
    • 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 Banfield
  • 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 Barry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barry County
    • Since Banfield is near Calhoun County and also Kalamazoo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kalamazoo 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 Banfield

Communities Also Named Banfield ...

We found one communities that are also named Banfield.

Within Michigan, the name Banfield is unique.

Beyond Michigan, there is another community also named Banfield in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • Armstrong County
      • This Banfield is located in Armstrong County and lies 319 miles [513.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Banfield that is located in Barry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Armstrong County community of Banfield.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Banfield ...

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.

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Banfield and extending to:

  • Hastings, which is the Seat of Barry County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Banfield to Hastings, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 41 miles [66 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 just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 497 miles [799.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,067 miles [9,763.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,803 miles [10,948.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,685 miles [7,539.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Banfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Banfield to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Banfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4638, Longitude: -85.2885    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.879 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.644 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.229 degrees.