RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Eaton Rapids, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Eaton Rapids 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 Eaton Rapids:
    • 42.509262, -84.655950
    • 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 Eaton Rapids
  • 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 Eaton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Eaton County
    • Since Eaton Rapids is near Ingham County and also Calhoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ingham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Eaton Rapids

Curious and Interesting Names Near Eaton Rapids ...

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 Eaton Rapids 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 Eaton Rapids to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Eaton Rapids and extending to:

  • Charlotte, which is the Seat of Eaton County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Eaton Rapids to Charlotte, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 16 miles [25.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 470 miles [756.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,042 miles [9,723.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,777 miles [10,906.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,657 miles [7,494.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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- Eaton Rapids) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Eaton Rapids 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 Eaton Rapids. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5093, Longitude: -84.6560    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.463 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.179 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.902 degrees.