Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sturgis, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sturgis and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sturgis
- 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 Sturgis:
- 41.799334, -85.418754
- 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 Sturgis
- 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 Saint Joseph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Joseph County
- Since Sturgis is near LaGrange County and also Branch County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for LaGrange County
- eBird sighting report for Branch 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 Sturgis ...
We found seven communities that share the name Sturgis.
Within Michigan, the name Sturgis is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Sturgis lies 1,064 miles [1,712.3 km]<2> to the northwest of the Sturgis that is located in Saint Joseph County.
- South Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sturgis ...
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.
- Breezy Beach
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breezy Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breezy Beach
- Breezy Beach is located in Saint Joseph County
- Colon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Colon is located in Saint Joseph County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <5>
- Fawn River
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawn River
- Fawn River is located in Saint Joseph County
- Greenfield Mills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Mills
- Greenfield Mills is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Klingers
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Plato
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato
- Plato is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Sandy Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Beach
- Sandy Beach is located in Saint Joseph County
- Star Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Twin Lakes
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- White Pigeon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Pigeon
- White Pigeon is located in Saint Joseph County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,521 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Pigeon <5>
How Far From Sturgis 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 city such as Sturgis to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sturgis and extending to:
- Centreville, which is the Seat of Saint Joseph County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sturgis to Centreville, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 78 miles [125.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 484 miles [778.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,104 miles [9,823.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,838 miles [11,004.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,718 miles [7,592.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Sturgis: www.ci.sturgis.mi.us/
The official website for Saint Joseph County: www.stjosephcountymi.org/
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 Sturgis, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sturgis) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sturgis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7993, Longitude: -85.4188 |
| <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 Sturgis 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> | 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 Sturgis 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 312.98 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.662 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.505 degrees. |