Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vail, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vail and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vail
- 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 Vail:
- 46.336613, -86.772932
- 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 Vail
- 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 Alger County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Alger County
- Since Vail is near Marquette County and also Delta County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marquette County
- eBird sighting report for Delta 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 Vail ...
We found ten communities that share the name Vail.
Within Michigan, the name Vail is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Breathitt County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Vail [Breathitt County].
- Trimble County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Vail [Trimble County].
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vail ...
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.
- Christmas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christmas have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christmas
- Christmas is located in Alger County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Christmas <5>
- Evelyn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Forest Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
- Forest Lake is located in Alger County
- Indian Town
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Town
- Indian Town is located in Alger County
- Juniper
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Kentucky
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Limestone
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Rock River
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock River have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock River
- Rock River is located in Alger County
- Slapneck ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Williams Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williams Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Landing
- Williams Landing is located in Alger County
How Far From Vail 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 Vail to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vail and extending to:
- Munising, which is the Seat of Alger County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 271 miles [436.1 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Vail to Lansing, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 712 miles [1,145.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,937 miles [9,554.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,686 miles [10,760.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,583 miles [7,375.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vail. 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vail) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vail. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.3366, Longitude: -86.7729 In this case, the coordinates for Vail have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Vail, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Vail 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 Vail 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 313.729 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.175 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.692 degrees. |