Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sugar Rapids, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sugar Rapids and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sugar Rapids
- 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 Sugar Rapids:
- 44.088032, -84.40749
- 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 Sugar Rapids
- 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 Gladwin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Gladwin County
- Since Sugar Rapids is near Ogemaw County and also Clare County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ogemaw County
- eBird sighting report for Clare 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sugar Rapids ...
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.
- Butman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Dale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south) - Edwards
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Greenwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Hard Luck
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Highwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwood
- Highwood is located in Gladwin County
- Hockaday
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Maple Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Valley
- Maple Valley is located in Roscommon County
- Podunk
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
How Far From Sugar Rapids 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 community such as Sugar Rapids to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Sugar Rapids and extending to:
- Gladwin, which is the Seat of Gladwin County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Sugar Rapids to Lansing, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 522 miles [840.1 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,959 miles [9,590.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,698 miles [10,779.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,582 miles [7,374 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sugar Rapids. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <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- Sugar Rapids) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sugar Rapids. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0880, Longitude: -84.4075 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Sugar Rapids to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.237 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.156 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.237 degrees. |