Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Pontiac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pontiac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Pontiac
- 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 Pontiac:
- 42.638832, -83.292682
- 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 Pontiac
- 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 Oakland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Oakland County
- Since Pontiac is near Macomb County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Macomb County
- eBird sighting report for Wayne 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 Pontiac ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Pontiac.
Within Michigan, the name Pontiac is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Livingston County
- This Pontiac is located in Livingston County and lies 300 miles [482.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Pontiac that is located in Oakland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Pontiac.
- Saint Clair County
- This Pontiac is located in Saint Clair County and lies 448 miles [721 km] to the southwest of the Pontiac that is located in Oakland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Pontiac.
- Indiana
- Boone County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Pontiac [Boone County].
- Clay County
- This Pontiac is located in Clay County and lies 289 miles [465.1 km]<2> to the southwest of the Pontiac that is located in Oakland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Pontiac.
- Kansas
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New York
- Ohio
- Quebec
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Pontiac ...
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.
- Big Beaver
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Beaver have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Beaver
- Big Beaver is located in Oakland County
- Charing Cross
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charing Cross have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charing Cross
- Charing Cross is located in Oakland County
- Commerce
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Decker ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Four Towns
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Towns have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Towns
- Four Towns is located in Oakland County
- Franklin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Oakland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,221 people
- Franklin has also been known as:
- Franklin Village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <5>
- Lake Orion
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Orion
- Lake Orion is located in Oakland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,191 people
- Former names for Lake Orion:
- Canandaigua City
- New Canandaigua
- Oakland
- Orion
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Orion <5>
- Oak Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Oxbow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Stony Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
- Stony Creek is located in Oakland County
- Stony Creek has also been known as:
- Stoney Creek Village
- Stoney Creek
- Stony Creek Village
- Union Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Lake
- Union Lake is located in Oakland County
How Far From Pontiac 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 city such as Pontiac to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Pontiac and extending to:
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 64 miles [103 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Pontiac to Lansing, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 416 miles [669.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,984 miles [9,630.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,717 miles [10,810 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,596 miles [7,396.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Pontiac: www.pontiac.mi.us/
The official website for Oakland County: www.co.oakland.mi.us/
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 Pontiac 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 '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- Pontiac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pontiac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6388, Longitude: -83.2927 |
| <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> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Pontiac to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.57 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.185 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.189 degrees. |