Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Urbandale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Urbandale and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Urbandale
- 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 Urbandale:
- 42.924755, -85.697529
- 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 Urbandale
- 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 Urbandale is near Ottawa County and also Allegan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ottawa County
- eBird sighting report for Allegan 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 Urbandale ...
We found six communities that share the name Urbandale.
There are two communities within Michigan that are also named Urbandale.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, five are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Michigan ...
- Calhoun County
- Ingham County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Ontario
- This Urbandale lies 526 miles [846.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Urbandale that is located in Kent County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Urbandale ...
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.
- Alpine
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Beverly
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
- Beverly is located in Kent County
- Cascade
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Clyde Park
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde Park
- Clyde Park is located in Kent County
- Cutlerville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cutlerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutlerville
- Cutlerville is located in Kent County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cutlerville <4>
- Galewood
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galewood
- Galewood is located in Kent County
- Grand Rapids
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Rapids
- Grand Rapids is located in Kent County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200,031 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Rapids <4>
- Grand Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Valley
- Grand Valley is located in Ottawa County
- Jamestown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Jamestown is located in Ottawa County
- Kentwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kentwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentwood
- Kentwood is located in Kent County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 51,719 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kentwood <4>
- Wyoming
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
- Wyoming is located in Kent County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 76,628 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wyoming <4>
How Far From Urbandale to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Urbandale to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Urbandale and extending to:
- Grand Rapids, which is the Seat of Kent County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 59 miles [95 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Urbandale to Lansing, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 530 miles [853 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, 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 6,061 miles [9,754.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,799 miles [10,941.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,682 miles [7,534.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Urbandale. 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Urbandale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Urbandale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9248, Longitude: -85.6975 |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Urbandale 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 Urbandale 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 313.136 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.004 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.282 degrees. |