RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Iosco County >> National City >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in National City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to National City 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 National City:
    • 44.234185, -83.723317
    • 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 National City
  • 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 Iosco County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iosco County
    • Since National City is near Arenac County and also Ogemaw County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arenac County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ogemaw 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 National City

Communities Also Named National City ...

We found three communities that are also named National City.

Within Michigan, the name National City is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Diego County
      • This National City is located in San Diego County and lies 1,955 miles [3,146.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the National City that is located in Iosco County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of National City.
    • Illinois
      • Saint Clair County
      • This National City is located in Saint Clair County and lies 509 miles [819.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the National City that is located in Iosco County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of National City.
    • Nevada
      • Lincoln County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Lincoln County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of National City.

Curious and Interesting Names Near National City ...

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.

  • Alabaster
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Alabaster is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabaster
  • Cedar Haven
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Haven is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Haven
  • Hemlock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hemlock is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
  • Maple Ridge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Ridge is located in Arenac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
  • Meadow
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Meadow is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow
  • Sand Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Sand Lake is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Lake
  • Turtle
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Turtle is located in Iosco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turtle
  • Twining
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Twining is located in Arenac County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twining
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people

How Far From National City 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 community such as National City to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Tawas City, which is the Seat of Iosco County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from National City to Tawas City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 111 miles [178.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 504 miles [811.1 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,927 miles [9,538.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,665 miles [10,726.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,549 miles [7,320.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- National City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 National City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 National City 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 National City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2342, Longitude: -83.7233       In this case, the coordinates for National City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.775 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.656 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.836 degrees.