Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sand Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sand Lake and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sand Lake
- 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 Sand Lake:
- 43.289975, -85.519210
- 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 Sand Lake
- 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 Sand Lake is near Montcalm County and also Newaygo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Montcalm County
- eBird sighting report for Newaygo 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 Sand Lake ...
We found ten communities that share the name Sand Lake.
There are three communities within Michigan that are also named Sand Lake.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, eight are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Michigan ...
- Iosco County
- Lenawee County
- Van Buren County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sand Lake ...
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.
- Cedar Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 <4>
- Childsdale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Childsdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childsdale
- Childsdale is located in Kent County
- Coral
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coral
- Coral is located in Montcalm County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coral <4>
- Evans
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Harvard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Howard City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howard City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard City
- Howard City is located in Montcalm County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,819 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Howard City <4>
- Kent City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 <4>
- Riverview
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Sun
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Turk Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
How Far From Sand Lake 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 village such as Sand Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sand Lake and extending to:
- Grand Rapids, which is the Seat of Kent County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sand Lake to Grand Rapids, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 62 miles [99.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 535 miles [861 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<6> 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).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,776 miles [10,904.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,660 miles [7,499.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sand Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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- Sand Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sand Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2900, Longitude: -85.5192 In this case, the coordinates for Sand Lake 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 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 Sand Lake 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> | 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Sand Lake to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.007 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.91 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.073 degrees. |