Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alpena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alpena and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alpena
- 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 Alpena:
- 44.183321, -98.368146
- 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 Alpena
- 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 Jerauld County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jerauld County
- Since Alpena is near Beadle County and also Sanborn County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Beadle County
- eBird sighting report for Sanborn 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 Alpena ...
We found five communities that share the name Alpena.
Within South Dakota, the name Alpena is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Nova Scotia
- This Alpena lies 1,630 miles [2,623.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alpena that is located in Jerauld County.
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alpena ...
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.
- Crow Lake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest) - Forestburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestburg
- Forestburg is located in Sanborn County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 73 people
- James Valley Junction
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for James Valley Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Valley Junction
- James Valley Junction is located in Beadle County
- Lane
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Lane is located in Jerauld County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <4>
How Far From Alpena 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 town such as Alpena to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alpena and extending to:
- Wessington Springs, which is the Seat of Jerauld County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alpena to Wessington Springs, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 97 miles [156.1 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,157 miles [1,862 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 66 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,425 miles [10,340 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,185 miles [11,563.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,109 miles [8,222.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alpena. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alpena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alpena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1833, Longitude: -98.3681 In this case, the coordinates for Alpena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Alpena 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 Alpena 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 321.942 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 320.228 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.636 degrees. |