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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Piney Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Piney Ridge 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 Piney Ridge:
    • 44.015436, -86.473264
    • 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 Piney Ridge
  • 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 Piney Ridge is near Manistee County and also Oceana County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Manistee County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oceana 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 Piney Ridge

Communities Also Named Piney Ridge ...

We found three communities that are also named Piney Ridge.

Within Michigan, the name Piney Ridge is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Queen Anne's County
      • This Piney Ridge is located in Queen Anne's County and lies 637 miles [1,025.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Piney Ridge that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Queen Anne's County community of Piney Ridge.
    • North Carolina
      • Sampson County
      • This Piney Ridge is located in Sampson County and lies 759 miles [1,221.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Piney Ridge that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sampson County community of Piney Ridge.
    • South Carolina
      • Greenville County
      • This Piney Ridge is located in Greenville County and lies 666 miles [1,071.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Piney Ridge that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenville County community of Piney Ridge.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Piney Ridge ...

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 Piney Ridge 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 community such as Piney Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ludington, which is the Seat of Mason County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 130 miles [209.2 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Piney Ridge 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 602 miles [968.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,037 miles [9,715.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,780 miles [10,911.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,668 miles [7,512.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Piney Ridge) 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 Piney Ridge 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 Piney Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0154, Longitude: -86.4733    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.621 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.712 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.321 degrees.