Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ionia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ionia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ionia
- 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 Ionia:
- 42.985033, -85.058061
- 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 Ionia
- 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 Ionia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Ionia County
- Since Ionia is near Montcalm County and also Kent County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Montcalm County
- eBird sighting report for Kent 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 Ionia ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Ionia.
Within Michigan, the name Ionia is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- Onondaga County
- This Ionia is located in Onondaga County and lies 437 miles [703.3 km]<1> to the east of the Ionia that is located in Ionia County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Ionia.
- Ontario County
- This Ionia is located in Ontario County and lies 382 miles [614.8 km] to the east of the Ionia that is located in Ionia County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ontario County community of Ionia.
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ionia ...
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
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butternut
- Butternut is located in Montcalm County
- Clarksville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarksville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
- Clarksville is located in Ionia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 395 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarksville <5>
- Cooks Corners
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooks Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Corners
- Cooks Corners is located in Ionia County
- Elmdale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
- Elmdale is located in Ionia County
- Eureka Place
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka Place have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Place
- Eureka Place is located in Montcalm County
- Fowler
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
- Fowler is located in Clinton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,218 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fowler <5>
- Frost Corners
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frost Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost Corners
- Frost Corners is located in Ionia County
- Greenville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
- Greenville is located in Montcalm County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,386 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <5>
- Lyons
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
- Lyons is located in Ionia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 808 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyons <5>
- Orleans
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
- Orleans is located in Ionia County
- Prairie
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Woods Corners
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Corners
- Woods Corners is located in Ionia County
How Far From Ionia 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 city such as Ionia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ionia and extending to:
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Ionia to Lansing, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 504 miles [811.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,034 miles [9,710.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,771 miles [10,896.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,654 miles [7,489.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Ionia: www.city.ionia.mi.us/
The official website for Ionia County: www.ioniacounty.org/
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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ionia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ionia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9850, Longitude: -85.0581 In this case, the coordinates for Ionia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Ionia 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> | 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 Ionia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Ionia to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.712 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.531 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.943 degrees. |