RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Skagit County >> Big Lake >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Lake 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 Big Lake:
    • 48.402883, -122.241265
    • 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 Big Lake
  • 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 Skagit County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Skagit County
    • Since Big Lake is near Snohomish County and also Island County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Snohomish County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Island 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 Big Lake

Communities Also Named Big Lake ...

We found nine communities that are also named Big Lake.

Within Washington, the name Big Lake is unique.

Beyond Washington, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Big Lake lies 1,405 miles [2,261.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Big Lake that is located in Skagit County.
    • Arkansas
      • Mississippi County
      • This Big Lake is located in Mississippi County and lies 1,839 miles [2,959.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Big Lake that is located in Skagit County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi County community of Big Lake.
    • Indiana
      • Noble County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Big Lake [Noble County].
    • Minnesota
      • Sherburne County
      • This Big Lake is located in Sherburne County and lies 1,353 miles [2,177.4 km]<1> to the east of the Big Lake that is located in Skagit County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sherburne County community of Big Lake.
    • Mississippi
      • Noxubee County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Big Lake [Noxubee County].
    • Missouri
      • Holt County
      • This Big Lake is located in Holt County and lies 1,439 miles [2,315.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Big Lake that is located in Skagit County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Holt County community of Big Lake.
    • Nova Scotia
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nova Scotia community of Big Lake.
    • Ontario
      • This Big Lake lies 1,875 miles [3,017.5 km]<1> to the east of the Big Lake that is located in Skagit County.
    • Texas
      • Reagan County
      • This Big Lake is located in Reagan County and lies 1,610 miles [2,591 km]<1> to the southeast of the Big Lake that is located in Skagit County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Reagan County community of Big Lake.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Lake ...

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.

  • Allen
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Allen is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
  • Bow
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Chuckanut Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Chuckanut Junction is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Junction
  • Clear Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Clear Lake is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
  • Cokedale ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Cokedale is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokedale
  • Day Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Day Creek is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Creek
  • Edison Station
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Edison Station is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison Station
  • English Boom
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • English Boom is located in Island County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Boom
  • Equality ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Equality is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Equality
  • Fish Town
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Fish Town is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Town
  • Florence
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Florence is located in Snohomish County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
  • Leary
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Leary is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leary
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Milltown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Milltown is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
    • Norman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Norman is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norman
    • Prairie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Prairie is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie
    • Shelter Bay
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Shelter Bay is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelter Bay
    • Sunset
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset

How Far From Big Lake 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 Big Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Mount Vernon, which is the Seat of Skagit County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Big Lake to Olympia, with an average speed<5>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,315 miles [3,725.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,720 miles [10,814.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,481 miles [12,039.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,611 miles [9,030 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>'

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- Big Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Big Lake 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>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 Big Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Big Lake 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 Big Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.4029, Longitude: -122.2413       In this case, the coordinates for Big Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.833 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.423 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.636 degrees.