Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Michigan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Michigan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Michigan
- 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 Michigan:
- 43.789510, -72.884829
- 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 Michigan
- 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 Rutland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Rutland County
- Since Michigan is near Windsor County and also Addison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Windsor County
- eBird sighting report for Addison 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 Michigan ...
We found four communities that share the name Michigan.
Within Vermont, the name Michigan is unique.
Beyond Vermont, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Kansas
- North Dakota
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Michigan ...
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.
- Branch School ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Branch School have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branch School
- Branch School is located in Addison County
- Brewers Corner
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brewers Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewers Corner
- Brewers Corner is located in Rutland County
- Fernville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Florence
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Forest Dale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Dale
- Forest Dale is located in Rutland County
- Gaysville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Green Acres
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Green Acres is located in Rutland County
- Jerusalem
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Mount Pleasant
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Rutland County
- Pinnacle Ridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pinnacle Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnacle Ridge
- Pinnacle Ridge is located in Rutland County
- Satans Kingdom
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satans Kingdom have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satans Kingdom
- Satans Kingdom is located in Addison County
- Sugar Hollow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hollow
- Sugar Hollow is located in Rutland County
- Sugarwood Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugarwood Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarwood Hill
- Sugarwood Hill is located in Rutland County
- Talcville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Michigan 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 Michigan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Michigan and extending to:
- Rutland, which is the Seat of Rutland County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Michigan to Rutland, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Montpelier, which is the State Capital of Vermont, lies 35 miles [56.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 400 miles [643.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,524 miles [8,890 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,241 miles [10,043.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,116 miles [6,624.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Michigan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Vermont: https://www.vermont.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Michigan 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. |
| <2> | 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 from Point A (ie- Michigan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Michigan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7895, Longitude: -72.8848 In this case, the coordinates for Michigan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Michigan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Michigan 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 304.876 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.823 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.688 degrees. |