Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Rock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Rock and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Rock
- 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 Big Rock:
- 45.007214, -84.232898
- 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 Big Rock
- 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 Montmorency County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Montmorency County
- Since Big Rock is near Otsego County and also Oscoda County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Otsego County
- eBird sighting report for Oscoda 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 Big Rock ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Big Rock.
Within Michigan, the name Big Rock is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Pulaski 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 Arkansas community of Big Rock [Pulaski County].
- Sebastian County
- This Big Rock is located in Sebastian County and lies 860 miles [1,384 km]<2> to the southwest of the Big Rock that is located in Montmorency County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sebastian County community of Big Rock.
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Black Hawk County
- This Big Rock is located in Black Hawk County and lies 436 miles [701.7 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Big Rock that is located in Montmorency County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Black Hawk County community of Big Rock.
- Clinton 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 Iowa community of Big Rock [Clinton County].
- Scott County
- This Big Rock is located in Scott County and lies 399 miles [642.1 km] to the west southwest of the Big Rock that is located in Montmorency County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Big Rock.
- Kentucky
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Rock ...
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.
- Flanders
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanders
- Flanders is located in Alpena County
- Green Timbers
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Timbers have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Timbers
- Green Timbers is located in Otsego County
- Hillman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
- Hillman is located in Montmorency County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillman <4>
- Kneeland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kneeland
- Kneeland is located in Oscoda County
- Lower Chub Landing ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Chub Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Chub Landing
- Lower Chub Landing is located in Otsego County
- Oak Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west) - Pearll City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearll City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearll City
- Pearll City is located in Otsego County
- Red Oak
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
- Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
- Rust
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
How Far From Big Rock 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 Big Rock to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Big Rock once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Rock and extending to:
- Atlanta, which is the Seat of Montmorency County, lies just to the East.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 157 miles [252.7 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Big Rock to Lansing, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 560 miles [901.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,910 miles [9,511.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,651 miles [10,703.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,538 miles [7,303.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 Big Rock 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 from Point A (ie- Big Rock) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.0072, Longitude: -84.2329 |
| <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> | 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 Big Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Big Rock 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 312.072 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.108 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.817 degrees. |