Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Appalokia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Appalokia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Appalokia
- 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 Appalokia:
- 39.590326, -89.987886
- 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 Appalokia
- 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Morgan County
- Since Appalokia is near Sangamon County and also Macoupin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
- eBird sighting report for Macoupin 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Appalokia ...
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.
- Arnold
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Berlin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Centerville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Morgan County
- Franklin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Morgan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <2>
- Island Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Island Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Grove
- Island Grove is located in Sangamon County
- Knapp
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Lemmon ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Maxwell ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Orleans
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Tower Heights
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Heights
- Tower Heights is located in Sangamon County
- Yeomans
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Appalokia 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 Appalokia 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<3> community of Appalokia once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Appalokia and extending to:
- Jacksonville, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<4> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Appalokia to Jacksonville, with an average speed<5> 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 five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 693 miles [1,115.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,381 miles [10,269.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,118 miles [11,455.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,000 miles [8,046.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Appalokia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Appalokia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Appalokia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5903, Longitude: -89.9879 In this case, the coordinates for Appalokia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Appalokia 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 315.967 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.765 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.322 degrees. |