RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Monroe County >> West Monroe >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Monroe, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Monroe 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 West Monroe:
    • 41.915108, -83.429814
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on West Monroe
  • 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 Monroe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
    • Since West Monroe is near Wayne County and also Lucas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lucas 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for West Monroe

Communities Also Named West Monroe ...

We found two communities that are also named West Monroe.

Within Michigan, the name West Monroe is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Ouachita Parish
      • This West Monroe is located in Ouachita Parish and lies 806 miles [1,297.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the West Monroe that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ouachita Parish community of West Monroe.
    • New York
      • Oswego County
      • This West Monroe is located in Oswego County and lies 385 miles [619.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the West Monroe that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oswego County community of West Monroe.

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Monroe ...

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.

  • Erie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Grand View
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Grand View is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View
  • Grape
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Ida
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Ida Center
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ida Center is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida Center
  • Lulu
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Luna Pier
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Maybee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Stony Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Stony Creek is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
  • Stony Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Stony Point is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point

How Far From West Monroe 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 West Monroe to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Monroe, which is the Seat of Monroe County, lies just to the East.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from West Monroe to Lansing, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 395 miles [635.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,023 miles [9,693.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,753 miles [10,867.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,632 miles [7,454.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- West Monroe) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 West Monroe to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Monroe. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9151, Longitude: -83.4298       In this case, the coordinates for West Monroe have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.688 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.21 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.505 degrees.