RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Iron County >> Crystal Falls >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Crystal Falls, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Crystal Falls 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 Crystal Falls:
    • 46.097768, -88.335960
    • 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 Crystal Falls
  • 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 Iron County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iron County
    • Since Crystal Falls is near Florence County and also Dickinson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Florence County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dickinson 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 Crystal Falls

Communities Also Named Crystal Falls ...

We found six communities that are also named Crystal Falls.

Within Michigan, the name Crystal Falls is unique.

Beyond Michigan, we know of six communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, four are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Crystal Falls lies 2,471 miles [3,976.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Crystal Falls that is located in Iron County.
    • California
      • Tuolumne County
      • This Crystal Falls is located in Tuolumne County and lies 1,716 miles [2,761.6 km]<1> to the west of the Crystal Falls that is located in Iron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuolumne County community of Crystal Falls.
    • Ontario
      • This Crystal Falls lies 403 miles [648.6 km]<1> to the east of the Crystal Falls that is located in Iron County.
    • Quebec
      • This Crystal Falls lies 656 miles [1,055.7 km]<1> to the east of the Crystal Falls that is located in Iron County.
    • South Carolina
      • Oconee County
      • This Crystal Falls is located in Oconee County and lies 830 miles [1,335.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Crystal Falls that is located in Iron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconee County community of Crystal Falls.
    • Texas
      • Stephens County
      • This Crystal Falls is located in Stephens County and lies 1,069 miles [1,720.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Crystal Falls that is located in Iron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stephens County community of Crystal Falls.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Crystal Falls ...

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

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

  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 297 miles [478 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Crystal Falls to Lansing, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 17 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 758 miles [1,219.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,002 miles [9,659.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,753 miles [10,867.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,652 miles [7,486.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Crystal Falls) 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 Crystal Falls 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 Crystal Falls. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.0978, Longitude: -88.3360    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.821 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.373 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.623 degrees.