RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Berrien County >> Eau Claire >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Eau Claire, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire:
    • 41.984204, -86.303576
    • 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 Eau Claire
  • 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 Berrien County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berrien County
    • Since Eau Claire is near Cass County and also Van Buren County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cass County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Buren 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 Eau Claire

Communities Also Named Eau Claire ...

We found three communities that are also named Eau Claire.

Within Michigan, the name Eau Claire is unique.

Beyond Michigan, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • Butler County
      • This Eau Claire is located in Butler County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the east of the Eau Claire that is located in Berrien County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Eau Claire.
    • South Carolina
      • Richland County
      • This Eau Claire is located in Richland County and lies 618 miles [994.6 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Eau Claire that is located in Berrien County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Eau Claire.
    • Wisconsin
      • Eau Claire County
      • This Eau Claire is located in Eau Claire County and lies 325 miles [523 km]<1> to the northwest of the Eau Claire that is located in Berrien County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eau Claire County community of Eau Claire.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Eau Claire ...

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.

  • Hartman
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hartman is located in Berrien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartman
  • Indian Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Indian Lake is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
  • Kings Landing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Kings Landing is located in Berrien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Landing
  • Maple Island
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Maple Island is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Island
  • Naomi
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Naomi is located in Berrien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
  • Oxbow
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Oxbow is located in Berrien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxbow
  • Pearl Grange
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pearl Grange is located in Berrien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl Grange
  • Sandy Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sandy Beach is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Beach
  • Shanghai Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Shanghai Corners is located in Berrien County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai Corners
  • Sister Lakes
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Sister Lakes is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sister Lakes

How Far From Eau Claire 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 village such as Eau Claire to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Saint Joseph, which is the Seat of Berrien County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Eau Claire to Saint Joseph, with an average speed<2> 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 103 miles [165.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 531 miles [854.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,128 miles [9,862.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,864 miles [11,046.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,746 miles [7,637.9 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Eau Claire) 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 Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9842, Longitude: -86.3036       In this case, the coordinates for Eau Claire have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.557 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.345 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.88 degrees.