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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dowagiac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dowagiac 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 Dowagiac:
    • 41.983838, -86.108979
    • 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 Dowagiac
  • 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 Cass County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cass County
    • Since Dowagiac is near Van Buren County and also Berrien County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berrien 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 Dowagiac

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dowagiac ...

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.

  • Dailey
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Dailey is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dailey
  • Diamond Shores
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Diamond Shores is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Shores
  • Eagle Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle Point is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Point
  • Five Mile Corners
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Five Mile Corners is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Mile Corners
  • Indian Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Indian Lake is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
  • Maple Island
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Maple Island is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Island
  • Naomi
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Sandy Beach
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sandy Beach is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Beach
  • Sister Lakes
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sister Lakes is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sister Lakes
  • Spring Beach
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Spring Beach is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Beach
  • Twin Lakes
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Twin Lakes is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes

How Far From Dowagiac 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 city such as Dowagiac to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Dowagiac and extending to:

  • Cassopolis, which is the Seat of Cass County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Dowagiac to Lansing, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 521 miles [838.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,121 miles [9,850.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,857 miles [11,035.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,738 miles [7,625.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Dowagiac) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Dowagiac 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 Dowagiac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9838, Longitude: -86.1090    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.429 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.199 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.784 degrees.