Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Van Dyke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Dyke and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Van Dyke
- 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 Van Dyke:
- 42.463138, -83.026671
- 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 Van Dyke
- 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 Macomb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Macomb County
- Since Van Dyke is near Wayne County and also Oakland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wayne County
- eBird sighting report for Oakland 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 Van Dyke ...
We found two communities that share the name Van Dyke.
Within Michigan, the name Van Dyke is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Tennessee
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Dyke ...
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.
- Big Beaver
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Beaver have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Beaver
- Big Beaver is located in Oakland County
- Center Line
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Line have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Line
- Center Line is located in Macomb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,090 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Line <3>
- Eagle Poine ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eagle Poine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Poine
- Eagle Poine is located in Macomb County
- Ferndale
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
- Ferndale is located in Oakland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,198 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ferndale <3>
- Harper Woods
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harper Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper Woods
- Harper Woods is located in Wayne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,651 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harper Woods <3>
- Pleasant Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
- Pleasant Ridge is located in Oakland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,403 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant Ridge <3>
- Plumb Brook ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Plumb Brook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb Brook
- Plumb Brook is located in Macomb County
- Plumb Brook has also been known as:
- Plum Brook
- Plumbrook Village
- Plumbrook
- Red Run Corners ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Red Run Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run Corners
- Red Run Corners is located in Macomb County
- Roseville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Roseville is located in Macomb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46,535 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roseville <3>
- Royal Oak
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oak
- Royal Oak is located in Oakland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 58,963 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Royal Oak <3>
- Spinnings ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
How Far From Van Dyke 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 Van Dyke to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Van Dyke once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Van Dyke and extending to:
- Mount Clemens, which is the Seat of Macomb County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Van Dyke to Mount Clemens, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 79 miles [127.1 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 398 miles [640.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,982 miles [9,627.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,714 miles [10,805.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,593 miles [7,391.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Macomb County: www.macombcountymi.gov/
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- Van Dyke) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Van Dyke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4631, Longitude: -83.0267 |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Van Dyke, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Van Dyke 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 311.406 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.972 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.121 degrees. |