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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ludington, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ludington 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 Ludington:
    • 43.955597, -86.446454
    • 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 Ludington
  • 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 Mason County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mason County
    • Since Ludington is near Oceana County and also Manistee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oceana County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Manistee 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 Ludington

Communities Also Named Ludington ...

We found four communities that are also named Ludington.

Within Michigan, the name Ludington is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Beauregard Parish
      • This Ludington is located in Beauregard Parish and lies 977 miles [1,572.3 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Ludington that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beauregard Parish community of Ludington.
    • Montana
      • Richland County
      • This Ludington is located in Richland County and lies 885 miles [1,424.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ludington that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Ludington.
    • Ohio
      • Perry County
      • This Ludington is located in Perry County and lies 373 miles [600.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Ludington that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perry County community of Ludington.
    • Wisconsin
      • Eau Claire County
      • This Ludington is located in Eau Claire County and lies 238 miles [383 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ludington that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eau Claire County community of Ludington.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ludington ...

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

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

  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 127 miles [204.4 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Ludington to Lansing, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 598 miles [962.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,039 miles [9,718.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,782 miles [10,914.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,669 miles [7,514 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ludington) 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 Ludington 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 Ludington. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9556, Longitude: -86.4465    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.605 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.685 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.326 degrees.