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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hudsonville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hudsonville 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 Hudsonville:
    • 42.868234, -85.865258
    • 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 Hudsonville
  • 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 Ottawa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ottawa County
    • Since Hudsonville is near Kent County and also Allegan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kent County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegan 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 Hudsonville

Communities Also Named Hudsonville ...

We found three communities that are also named Hudsonville.

Within Michigan, the name Hudsonville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Indiana
      • Davies's County
      • This Hudsonville is located in Davies's County and lies 305 miles [490.8 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Hudsonville that is located in Ottawa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davies's County community of Hudsonville.
    • Mississippi
      • Marshall County
      • This Hudsonville is located in Marshall County and lies 584 miles [939.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Hudsonville that is located in Ottawa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Hudsonville.
    • Texas
      • Fannin County
      • This Hudsonville is located in Fannin County and lies 837 miles [1,347 km]<1> to the southwest of the Hudsonville that is located in Ottawa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fannin County community of Hudsonville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hudsonville ...

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 Hudsonville 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 city such as Hudsonville to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Grand Haven, which is the Seat of Ottawa County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Hudsonville to Grand Haven, with an average speed<3> 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 most of a day.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 67 miles [107.8 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 about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 535 miles [861 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,070 miles [9,768.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,808 miles [10,956.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,691 miles [7,549.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hudsonville) 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 Hudsonville 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 Hudsonville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8682, Longitude: -85.8653    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.249 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.123 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.385 degrees.