RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
Quarter for
Michigan

The Commemorative Quarter for Michigan





Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Sunshine Beach, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sunshine Beach and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Sunshine Beach:
    • 47.088817, -88.515679
    • 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 Sunshine Beach
  • 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 Sunshine Beach ...

We found two communities that share the name Sunshine Beach.

Within Michigan, the name Sunshine Beach is unique.

Beyond Michigan, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Pinellas County
      • This Sunshine Beach is located in Pinellas County and lies 1,369 miles [2,203.2 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Sunshine Beach that is located in Houghton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pinellas County community of Sunshine Beach.
    • Washington
      • Pierce County
      • This Sunshine Beach is located in Pierce County and lies 1,591 miles [2,560.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Sunshine Beach that is located in Houghton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of Sunshine Beach.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sunshine Beach ...

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.

  • Baltic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltic
    • Baltic is located in Houghton County
  • Boston
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Boston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
    • Boston is located in Houghton County
  • Dodgeville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodgeville
    • Dodgeville is located in Houghton County
  • Dollar Bay
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Dreamland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dreamland
    • Dreamland is located in Houghton County
  • Hubbell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Mason
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
    • Mason is located in Houghton County
  • Pilgrim
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilgrim have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim
    • Pilgrim is located in Houghton County
  • Rabbit Bay
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rabbit Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Bay
    • Rabbit Bay is located in Houghton County
  • Superior
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Superior have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior
    • Superior is located in Houghton County

How Far From Sunshine Beach 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 community such as Sunshine Beach to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sunshine Beach and extending to:

  • Houghton, which is the Seat of Houghton County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 357 miles [574.5 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Sunshine Beach to Lansing, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 21 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 808 miles [1,300.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,960 miles [9,591.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,713 miles [10,803.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,617 miles [7,430.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sunshine Beach. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Sunshine Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sunshine Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.0888, Longitude: -88.5157       In this case, the coordinates for Sunshine Beach have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 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 Sunshine Beach 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 314.905 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.611 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.39 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025