Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Birchwood Beach, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Birchwood Beach and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Birchwood Beach
- 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 Birchwood Beach:
- 44.872512, -84.321958
- 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 Birchwood Beach
- 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 Birchwood Beach is near Otsego County and also Crawford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Otsego County
- eBird sighting report for Crawford 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Birchwood Beach ...
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.
- Big Rock ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Bucks
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Eldorado
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south) - Five Corners
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
- Five Corners is located in Crawford County
- Kneeland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kneeland
- Kneeland is located in Oscoda County
- Lower Chub Landing ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Chub Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
(18 miles [29 km] to the west) - Pearll City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearll City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearll City
- Pearll City is located in Otsego County
- Red Oak
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
- Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
- Rust
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast) - Wildwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Birchwood Beach 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 community such as Birchwood Beach to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Birchwood Beach and extending to:
- Atlanta, which is the Seat of Montmorency County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Birchwood Beach to Atlanta, with an average speed<4> 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 148 miles [238.2 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 556 miles [894.8 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,919 miles [9,525.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,661 miles [10,719.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,547 miles [7,317.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Birchwood Beach. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Birchwood Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Birchwood Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8725, Longitude: -84.3220 In this case, the coordinates for Birchwood Beach have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Birchwood Beach to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.139 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.164 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.912 degrees. |