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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.
- 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:
- 38.909831, -79.651170
- 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 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- Since Alpena is near Tucker County and also Pendleton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tucker County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Pendleton 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 Alpena
Communities Also Named Alpena ...
We found five communities that are also named Alpena.
Within West Virginia, the name Alpena is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of five communities that are located 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
- Boone County
- This Alpena is located in Boone County and lies 767 miles [1,234.4 km]<1> to the west of the Alpena that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boone County community of Alpena.
- Kentucky
- Lewis 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 Kentucky community of Alpena [Lewis County].
- Michigan
- Alpena County
- This Alpena is located in Alpena County and lies 467 miles [751.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Alpena that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alpena County community of Alpena.
- Nova Scotia
- This Alpena lies 853 miles [1,372.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alpena that is located in Randolph County.
- South Dakota
- Jerauld County
- This Alpena is located in Jerauld County and lies 1,030 miles [1,657.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Alpena that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jerauld County community of Alpena.
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.
- Cheat Junction
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cheat Junction is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheat Junction
- Dryfork
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Elk
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Elk is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk
- Elk River Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Elk River Junction is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River Junction
- Evenwood
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Evenwood is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evenwood
- Flint
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Flint is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
- Harpertown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Harpertown is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpertown
- Job
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Job is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Job
- Little Italy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Little Italy is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
- Lumber ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Lumber is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber
- Meadows
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Meadows is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
- Mill Run ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Run is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Run
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Perlytown ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Perlytown is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perlytown
- Pleasant Run
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Run is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
- Read
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Read is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Read
- Stringtown ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Stringtown is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
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 community 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:
- Elkins, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Alpena to Elkins, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 140 miles [225.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,007 miles [9,667.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,718 miles [10,811.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,594 miles [7,393.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Alpena) 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 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alpena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9098, Longitude: -79.6512 In this case, the coordinates for Alpena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.446 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.212 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.821 degrees. |
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