Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Crystal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Crystal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Crystal
- 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:
- 43.261400, -84.914949
- 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 Crystal
- 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 Montcalm County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Montcalm County
- Since Crystal is near Gratiot County and also Ionia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gratiot County
- eBird sighting report for Ionia 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 Crystal ...
We found 24 communities that share the name Crystal.
Within Michigan, the name Crystal is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another 24 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 24 communities, 23 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Custer County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Idaho community of Crystal [Custer County].
- Power County
- This Crystal is located in Power County and lies 1,388 miles [2,233.8 km]<2> to the west of the Crystal that is located in Montcalm County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Power County community of Crystal.
- Washington County
- This Crystal is located in Washington County and lies 1,587 miles [2,554 km] to the west northwest of the Crystal that is located in Montcalm County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Crystal.
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- Clark County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Crystal [Clark County].
- Nye County
- This Crystal is located in Nye County and lies 1,709 miles [2,750.4 km]<2> to the west of the Crystal that is located in Montcalm County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Crystal.
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Crystal lies 459 miles [738.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Crystal that is located in Montcalm County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Fayette County
- This Crystal is located in Fayette County and lies 357 miles [574.5 km]<2> to the southeast of the Crystal that is located in Montcalm County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Crystal.
- Potter County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Crystal [Potter County].
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Crystal ...
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.
- Butternut
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butternut
- Butternut is located in Montcalm County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Butternut
- From Crystal to Butternut
- Cedar Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
- Cedar Lake is located in Montcalm County
- Elm Hall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Eugene
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Eureka Place
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eureka Place. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Place
- Eureka Place is located in Montcalm County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Eureka Place
- From Crystal to Eureka Place
- Ithaca
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ithaca have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithaca
- Ithaca is located in Gratiot County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,744 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ithaca <6>
- Kings Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kings Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Corner
- Kings Corner is located in Montcalm County
- Maple Rapids
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Rapids
- Maple Rapids is located in Clinton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
- Pompeii
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pompeii
- Pompeii is located in Gratiot County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pompeii <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pompeii
- From Crystal to Pompeii
- Six Lakes
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Lakes
- Six Lakes is located in Montcalm County
- Six Lakes has also been known as:
- Six Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Six Lakes <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Six Lakes
- From Crystal to Six Lakes
- Woods Corners
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Corners
- Woods Corners is located in Ionia County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Woods Corners
- From Crystal to Woods Corners
How Far From Crystal 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 Crystal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Crystal and extending to:
- Stanton, which is the Seat of Montcalm County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Crystal to Lansing, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 508 miles [817.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,016 miles [9,681.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,754 miles [10,869.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,637 miles [7,462.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Crystal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Montcalm County: www.montcalm.org/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Crystal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Crystal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Crystal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2614, Longitude: -84.9149 In this case, the coordinates for Crystal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Crystal 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.608 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.454 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.779 degrees. |