Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merrill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merrill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merrill
- 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 Merrill:
- 43.409977, -84.330308
- 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 Merrill
- 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 Saginaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Saginaw County
- Since Merrill is near Gratiot County and also Midland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gratiot County
- eBird sighting report for Midland 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 Merrill ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Merrill.
Within Michigan, the name Merrill is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Iowa
- Maine
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merrill ...
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.
- Dice
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dice
- Dice is located in Saginaw County
- Frost
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Gordonville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordonville
- Gordonville is located in Midland County
- Hemlock
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
- Hemlock is located in Saginaw County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hemlock <4>
- Lockport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Marion Springs
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marion Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion Springs
- Marion Springs is located in Saginaw County
- Nelson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
- Nelson is located in Saginaw County
- Poseyville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poseyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poseyville
- Poseyville is located in Midland County
- Rathbone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Redstone
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstone
- Redstone is located in Midland County
- Sickles
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sickles
- Sickles is located in Gratiot County
- Teeterville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Teeterville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teeterville
- Teeterville is located in Midland County
How Far From Merrill 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 village such as Merrill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Merrill and extending to:
- Saginaw, which is the Seat of Saginaw County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Merrill to Saginaw, with an average speed<5> 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 6 hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 48 miles [77.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 490 miles [788.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,988 miles [9,636.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,725 miles [10,822.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,607 miles [7,414.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Merrill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Saginaw County: www.saginawcounty.com/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Merrill 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Merrill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merrill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4100, Longitude: -84.3303 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Merrill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.216 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.032 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.435 degrees. |