Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Traverse City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Traverse City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Traverse City
- 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 Traverse City:
- 44.762918, -85.621099
- 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 Traverse City
- 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 Grand Traverse County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Grand Traverse County
- Since Traverse City is near Leelanau County and also Benzie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Leelanau County
- eBird sighting report for Benzie 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 Traverse City ...
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.
- Acme
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Acme have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Acme is located in Grand Traverse County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Acme <2>
- Cedar
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
- Cedar is located in Leelanau County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar <2>
- Cedar Run
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Cherry Bend
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Bend
- Cherry Bend is located in Leelanau County
- Chums Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chums Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chums Corner
- Chums Corner is located in Grand Traverse County
- Crystal Spring
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Spring
- Crystal Spring is located in Leelanau County
- Devils Elbow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devils Elbow
- Devils Elbow is located in Grand Traverse County
- Fivemile Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fivemile Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivemile Corner
- Fivemile Corner is located in Grand Traverse County
- Hatchs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Hilltop
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Jacks Landing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacks Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacks Landing
- Jacks Landing is located in Grand Traverse County
How Far From Traverse City 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 Traverse City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Traverse City and extending to:
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 149 miles [239.8 km]<3> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Traverse City to Lansing, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 598 miles [962.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,971 miles [9,609.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,714 miles [10,805.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,603 miles [7,407.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Traverse City: www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/
The official website for Grand Traverse County: www.grandtraverse.org/
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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Traverse City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Traverse City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7629, Longitude: -85.6211 |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Traverse City to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.018 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.14 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.627 degrees. |