Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Plains, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plains and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Plains
- 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 Plains:
- 46.325498, -87.404861
- 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 Plains
- 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 Marquette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marquette County
- Since Plains is near Alger County and also Delta County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Alger County
- eBird sighting report for Delta 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 Plains ...
We found 21 communities that share the name Plains.
Within Michigan, the name Plains is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Cobb County
- This Plains is located in Cobb County and lies 862 miles [1,387.3 km]<2> to the south of the Plains that is located in Marquette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cobb County community of Plains.
- Sumter County
- This Plains is located in Sumter County and lies 999 miles [1,607.7 km] to the south of the Plains that is located in Marquette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Plains.
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Caroline County
- This Plains is located in Caroline County and lies 771 miles [1,240.8 km]<2> to the southeast of the Plains that is located in Marquette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caroline County community of Plains.
- Charles County
- This Plains is located in Charles County and lies 763 miles [1,227.9 km] to the southeast of the Plains that is located in Marquette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charles County community of Plains.
- Massachusetts
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oneida County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Plains [Oneida County].
- Washington County
- This Plains is located in Washington County and lies 724 miles [1,165.2 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Plains that is located in Marquette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Plains.
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Borden County
- This Plains is located in Borden County and lies 1,192 miles [1,918.3 km]<2> to the southwest of the Plains that is located in Marquette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Borden County community of Plains.
- Yoakum County
- This Plains is located in Yoakum County and lies 1,217 miles [1,958.6 km] to the southwest of the Plains that is located in Marquette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yoakum County community of Plains.
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Plains ...
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.
- Cascade
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Cedar Bank
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Bank have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bank
- Cedar Bank is located in Marquette County
- Dukes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Green Garden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Garden
- Green Garden is located in Marquette County
- Harvey
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvey have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
- Harvey is located in Marquette County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harvey <5>
- Helena
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Little Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake
- Little Lake is located in Marquette County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Lake <5>
- Maple Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Maple Grove is located in Marquette County
- Sands Station
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sands Station have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sands Station
- Sands Station is located in Marquette County
How Far From Plains 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 Plains to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Plains and extending to:
- Marquette, which is the Seat of Marquette County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Plains to Marquette, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 284 miles [457.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 734 miles [1,181.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,960 miles [9,591.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,709 miles [10,797.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,607 miles [7,414.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plains. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Marquette County: www.co.marquette.mi.us/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Plains, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Plains) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.3255, Longitude: -87.4049 In this case, the coordinates for Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Plains 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Plains to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.166 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.666 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.039 degrees. |