Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rockford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rockford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rockford
- 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 Rockford:
- 43.126138, -85.556698
- 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 Rockford
- 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 Kent County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kent County
- Since Rockford is near Ottawa County and also Montcalm County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ottawa County
- eBird sighting report for Montcalm 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 Rockford ...
We found 26 communities that share the name Rockford.
Within Michigan, the name Rockford is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another 26 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 26 communities, 24 are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Jackson County
- This Rockford is located in Jackson County and lies 286 miles [460.3 km]<1> to the south of the Rockford that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Rockford.
- Wells County
- This Rockford is located in Wells County and lies 163 miles [262.3 km] to the south of the Rockford that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wells County community of Rockford.
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Carroll County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Carroll County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Rockford.
- Cass County
- This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Rockford [Cass County].
- Chariton County
- This Rockford is located in Chariton County and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rockford that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chariton County community of Rockford.
- Montana
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Mercer County
- This Rockford is located in Mercer County and lies 174 miles [280 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Rockford that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Rockford.
- Tuscarawas County
- This Rockford is located in Tuscarawas County and lies 285 miles [458.7 km] to the southeast of the Rockford that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of Rockford.
- Ontario
- This Rockford lies 250 miles [402.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rockford that is located in Kent County.
- Oregon
- Saskatchewan
- This Rockford lies 1,006 miles [1,619 km]<1> to the northwest of the Rockford that is located in Kent County.
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rockford ...
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.
- Alpine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Cannonsburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannonsburg
- Cannonsburg is located in Kent County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cannonsburg <5>
- Cedar Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
- Cedar Springs is located in Kent County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,743 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Springs <5>
- Childsdale
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Childsdale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childsdale
- Childsdale is located in Kent County
- Englishville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Englishville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englishville
- Englishville is located in Kent County
- Evans
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Fruit Ridge Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruit Ridge Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruit Ridge Center
- Fruit Ridge Center is located in Kent County
- Harvard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Kent City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent City
- Kent City is located in Kent County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent City <5>
- Lisbon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Sand Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Lake
- Sand Lake is located in Kent County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 537 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sand Lake <5>
How Far From Rockford 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 city such as Rockford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rockford and extending to:
- Grand Rapids, which is the Seat of Kent County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rockford to Grand Rapids, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 57 miles [91.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 530 miles [853 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,046 miles [9,730.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,785 miles [10,919.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,668 miles [7,512.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Rockford: www.rockford.mi.us/
The official website for Kent County: www.accesskent.com/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rockford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rockford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1261, Longitude: -85.5567 In this case, the coordinates for Rockford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Rockford 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. |
| <3> | 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 Rockford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | 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 Rockford 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 313.037 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.92 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.146 degrees. |