Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Detroit, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Detroit and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Detroit
- 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 Detroit:
- 47.335095, -122.832085
- 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 Detroit
- 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 Mason County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mason County
- Since Detroit is near Pierce County and also Kitsap County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pierce County
- eBird sighting report for Kitsap 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 Detroit ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Detroit.
Within Washington, the name Detroit is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Maine
- Michigan
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- Oregon
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Detroit ...
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.
- Fair Harbor
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Harbor
- Fair Harbor is located in Mason County
- Forest Beach
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Beach
- Forest Beach is located in Mason County
- Glencove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Graham Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graham Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Point
- Graham Point is located in Mason County
- Grant
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Grapeview
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapeview
- Grapeview is located in Mason County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grapeview <5>
- Home
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home
- Home is located in Pierce County
- Little Hoquiam
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Hoquiam have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Hoquiam
- Little Hoquiam is located in Mason County
- Rose Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Point
- Rose Point is located in Mason County
- Sunbeach
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Sunrise Beach
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Beach
- Sunrise Beach is located in Pierce County
- Sunset Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Beach
- Sunset Beach is located in Mason County
- Sunshine Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunshine Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine Beach
- Sunshine Beach is located in Pierce County
How Far From Detroit 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 Detroit 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 community of Detroit once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Detroit and extending to:
- Shelton, which is the Seat of Mason County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Detroit to Shelton, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 20 miles [32.2 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,344 miles [3,772.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 134 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,798 miles [10,940.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,560 miles [12,166.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,688 miles [9,153.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Mason County: www.co.mason.wa.us/
The official website for State of Washington: https://wa.gov/
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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Detroit) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Detroit. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.3351, Longitude: -122.8321 In this case, the coordinates for Detroit 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 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 Detroit 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 Detroit, 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Detroit 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 341.275 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.882 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.107 degrees. |