Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bedford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bedford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bedford
- 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 Bedford:
- 42.395317, -85.232220
- 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 Bedford
- 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 Bedford is near Barry County and also Kalamazoo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Barry County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Bedford ...
We found 32 communities that share the name Bedford.
There is one other community in Michigan which is also named Bedford.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another 31 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 31 communities, 27 are located in the United States and five are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Michigan ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Madison Parish
- This Bedford is located in Madison Parish and lies 769 miles [1,237.6 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Bedford that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison Parish community of Bedford.
- Red River Parish
- 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 Louisiana community of Bedford [Red River Parish].
- Manitoba
- This Bedford lies 717 miles [1,153.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Bedford that is located in Calhoun County.
- Massachusetts
- Missouri
- Montana
- Broadwater County
- This Bedford is located in Broadwater County and lies 1,320 miles [2,124.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Bedford that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Broadwater County community of Bedford.
- Jefferson 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 Montana community of Bedford [Jefferson County].
- New Brunswick
- This Bedford lies 969 miles [1,559.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Bedford that is located in Calhoun County.
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Kings 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 New York community of Bedford [Kings County].
- Westchester County
- This Bedford is located in Westchester County and lies 601 miles [967.2 km]<2> to the east of the Bedford that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westchester County community of Bedford.
- North Carolina
- Nova Scotia
- This Bedford lies 1,087 miles [1,749.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Bedford that is located in Calhoun County.
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Bedford lies 460 miles [740.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Bedford that is located in Calhoun County.
- Pennsylvania
- Quebec
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Bedford City
- This Bedford is located in Bedford City and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<2> to the southeast of the Bedford that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bedford City community of Bedford.
- Shenandoah 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 Virginia community of Bedford [Shenandoah County].
- Washington
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bedford ...
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.
- Greenfield Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenfield Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Park
- Greenfield Park is located in Calhoun County
- Gull Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Hickory Corners
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Corners
- Hickory Corners is located in Barry County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hickory Corners <4>
- Howlandsburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howlandsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howlandsburg
- Howlandsburg is located in Kalamazoo County
- Lacey
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Lakeview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Level Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Park
- Level Park is located in Calhoun County
- Orchard Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Park
- Orchard Park is located in Calhoun County
- Sunrise Heights
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Heights
- Sunrise Heights is located in Calhoun County
- Woodlawn Beach
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodlawn Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Beach
- Woodlawn Beach is located in Barry County
How Far From Bedford 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 Bedford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bedford and extending to:
- Marshall, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bedford to Marshall, with an average speed<5> 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 five to six hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 41 miles [66 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 just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 492 miles [791.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,069 miles [9,767.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,804 miles [10,950 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,686 miles [7,541.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Bedford: www.bedfordmi.org/
The official website for Calhoun County: www.calhoun-mi.com/
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 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 Bedford 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bedford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bedford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3953, Longitude: -85.2322 In this case, the coordinates for Bedford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Bedford to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.844 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.595 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.223 degrees. |