RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Van Buren County >> Lacota >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Lacota, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lacota 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 Lacota:
    • 42.414007, -86.129396
    • 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 Lacota
  • 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 Van Buren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
    • Since Lacota is near Allegan County and also Berrien County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berrien 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 Lacota

Communities Also Named Lacota ...

We found one communities that are also named Lacota.

Within Michigan, the name Lacota is unique.

Beyond Michigan, there is another community also named Lacota in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Marion County
      • This Lacota is located in Marion County and lies 939 miles [1,511.2 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Lacota that is located in Van Buren County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Lacota.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lacota ...

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

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

  • Paw Paw, which is the Seat of Van Buren County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Lacota to Paw Paw, 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 five to six hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 83 miles [133.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 534 miles [859.4 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 6,101 miles [9,818.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,838 miles [11,004.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,721 miles [7,597.7 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lacota) 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 Lacota 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 Lacota. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4140, Longitude: -86.1294    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.434 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.268 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.66 degrees.