Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Elwell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elwell and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Elwell
- 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 Elwell:
- 43.386518, -84.746572
- 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 Elwell
- 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 Gratiot County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Gratiot County
- Since Elwell is near Isabella County and also Montcalm County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Isabella County
- eBird sighting report for Montcalm 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 Elwell ...
We found four communities that share the name Elwell.
Within Michigan, the name Elwell is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Elwell #
- This community is historichttp://www.waymarking.com/wm/search.aspx?f=1&lat=43.386518&lon=-84.746572&t=6 and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Elwell.
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Elwell ...
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
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butternut
- Butternut is located in Montcalm County
- Cedar Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
- Cedar Lake is located in Montcalm County
- Crystal
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal
- Crystal is located in Montcalm County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crystal <4>
- Elm Hall
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Eugene
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Ithaca
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ithaca have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 <4>
- Mount Pleasant
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Isabella County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,274 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Pleasant <4>
- Pompeii
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pompeii
- Pompeii is located in Gratiot County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pompeii <4>
- Rathbone
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east) - Redstone
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstone
- Redstone is located in Midland County
- Shepherd
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherd
- Shepherd is located in Isabella County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,490 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shepherd <4>
- Sickles
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sickles
- Sickles is located in Gratiot County
How Far From Elwell to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Elwell to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Elwell and extending to:
- Ithaca, which is the Seat of Gratiot County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Elwell to Ithaca, with an average speed<5> 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 46 miles [74 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 506 miles [814.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,004 miles [9,662.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,742 miles [10,850.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,625 miles [7,443.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Elwell. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Gratiot County: www.co.gratiot.mi.us/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- Elwell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elwell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3865, Longitude: -84.7466 |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Elwell 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Elwell to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.492 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.341 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.652 degrees. |