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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Berkley:
    • 42.503257, -83.183923
    • 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 Berkley
  • 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 Oakland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oakland County
    • Since Berkley is near Wayne County and also Macomb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Macomb 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 Berkley

Communities Also Named Berkley ...

We found eight communities that are also named Berkley.

Within Michigan, the name Berkley is unique.

Beyond Michigan, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Madison County
      • This Berkley is located in Madison County and lies 570 miles [917.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Berkley that is located in Oakland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Berkley.
    • Colorado
      • Adams County
      • This Berkley is located in Adams County and lies 1,147 miles [1,845.9 km]<1> to the west of the Berkley that is located in Oakland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Berkley.
    • Iowa
      • Boone County
      • This Berkley is located in Boone County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<1> to the west of the Berkley that is located in Oakland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boone County community of Berkley.
    • Kentucky
      • Carlisle County
      • This Berkley is located in Carlisle County and lies 502 miles [807.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Berkley that is located in Oakland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carlisle County community of Berkley.
    • Maryland
      • Harford County
      • This Berkley is located in Harford County and lies 412 miles [663 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Berkley that is located in Oakland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Berkley.
    • Massachusetts
      • Bristol County
      • This Berkley is located in Bristol County and lies 620 miles [997.8 km]<1> to the east of the Berkley that is located in Oakland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bristol County community of Berkley.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Berks County
      • This Berkley is located in Berks County and lies 401 miles [645.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Berkley that is located in Oakland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berks County community of Berkley.
    • Virginia
      • Norfolk City
      • This Berkley is located in Norfolk City and lies 536 miles [862.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the Berkley that is located in Oakland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Norfolk City community of Berkley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Berkley ...

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 Berkley 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 city such as Berkley to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Pontiac, which is the Seat of Oakland County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Berkley to Pontiac, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 71 miles [114.3 km] to the west northwest (WNW). 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 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 406 miles [653.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,986 miles [9,633.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,718 miles [10,811.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,597 miles [7,398.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Berkley) 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 Berkley 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 Berkley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5033, Longitude: -83.1839    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.506 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.092 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.183 degrees.