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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ganges, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ganges and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Ganges:
    • 42.577872, -86.210377
    • 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 Ganges
  • 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 Allegan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegan County
    • Since Ganges is near Van Buren County and also Ottawa 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 Ottawa 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 Ganges

Communities Also Named Ganges ...

We found three communities that are also named Ganges.

Within Michigan, the name Ganges is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Ganges lies 1,830 miles [2,945.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ganges that is located in Allegan County.
    • Ohio
      • Ashland County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Ashland County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ashland County community of Ganges.
      • Richland County
      • This Ganges is located in Richland County and lies 220 miles [354.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Ganges that is located in Allegan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Ganges.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ganges ...

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 Ganges 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 community such as Ganges to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Allegan, which is the Seat of Allegan County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Ganges to Allegan, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 84 miles [135.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 542 miles [872.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 31 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,096 miles [9,810.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,834 miles [10,998.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,717 miles [7,591.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ganges) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Ganges, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Ganges 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 Ganges. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5779, Longitude: -86.2104    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.484 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.348 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.649 degrees.