RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Ogemaw County >> Elbow Lake >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elbow Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elbow Lake 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 Elbow Lake:
    • 44.215297, -84.035550
    • 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 Elbow Lake
  • 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 Ogemaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ogemaw County
    • Since Elbow Lake is near Arenac County and also Iosco County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arenac County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iosco 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 Elbow Lake

Communities Also Named Elbow Lake ...

We found four communities that are also named Elbow Lake.

Within Michigan, the name Elbow Lake is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Manitoba
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • Minnesota
      • Becker County
      • This Elbow Lake is located in Becker County and lies 590 miles [949.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Elbow Lake that is located in Ogemaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Becker County community of Elbow Lake.
      • Grant County
      • This Elbow Lake is located in Grant County and lies 594 miles [956 km] to the west northwest of the Elbow Lake that is located in Ogemaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Elbow Lake.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Elbow Lake lies 987 miles [1,588.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Elbow Lake that is located in Ogemaw County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elbow Lake ...

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.

  • Edwards
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Edwards is located in Ogemaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
  • Greenwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenwood is located in Ogemaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Hard Luck
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hard Luck is located in Gladwin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hard Luck
    • Hard Luck has also been known as:
    • Hardluck
  • Knights Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Knights Mill is located in Arenac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Mill
  • Maple Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Maple Ridge is located in Arenac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
  • Rose City
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Shady Shores
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Shady Shores is located in Ogemaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Shores
  • Skidway Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Turtle
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Turtle is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turtle
  • Twining
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Twining is located in Arenac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twining
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people

How Far From Elbow Lake 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 Elbow Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • West Branch, which is the Seat of Ogemaw County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Elbow Lake to West Branch, 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 105 miles [169 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 514 miles [827.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 30 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,939 miles [9,557.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,678 miles [10,747.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,562 miles [7,341.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elbow Lake) 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 Elbow Lake 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 Elbow Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2153, Longitude: -84.0356       In this case, the coordinates for Elbow Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.983 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.889 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.002 degrees.