Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ashton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ashton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ashton
- 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 Ashton:
- 41.867068, -89.220922
- 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 Ashton
- 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 Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lee County
- Since Ashton is near Ogle County and also DeKalb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ogle County
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb 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 Ashton ...
We found 29 communities that share the name Ashton.
Within Illinois, the name Ashton is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 29 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 29 communities, 27 are located in the United States and four are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Ben Hill County
- This Ashton is located in Ben Hill County and lies 777 miles [1,250.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Ashton that is located in Lee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ben Hill County community of Ashton.
- Irwin 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 Georgia community of Ashton [Irwin County].
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kingman 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 Kansas community of Ashton [Kingman County].
- Sumner County
- This Ashton is located in Sumner County and lies 539 miles [867.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Ashton that is located in Lee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumner County community of Ashton.
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Montgomery County
- This Ashton is located in Montgomery County and lies 667 miles [1,073.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Ashton that is located in Lee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Ashton.
- Washington County
- This Ashton is located in Washington County and lies 610 miles [981.7 km] to the east of the Ashton that is located in Lee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Ashton.
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Buchanan 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 Missouri community of Ashton [Buchanan County].
- Clark County
- This Ashton is located in Clark County and lies 166 miles [267.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Ashton that is located in Lee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Ashton.
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- This Ashton lies 1,353 miles [2,177.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ashton that is located in Lee County.
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ashton ...
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.
- Carthage
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Flagg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Flagg Center
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flagg Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg Center
- Flagg Center is located in Ogle County
- Grand Detour
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Detour have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Detour
- Grand Detour is located in Ogle County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Detour <5>
- Hickory Ridge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
- Hickory Ridge is located in Ogle County
- Hillcrest
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Honey Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Creek
- Honey Creek is located in Ogle County
- Inlet
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Kingdom
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Lee Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lee Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Center
- Lee Center is located in Lee County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee Center <5>
- Lost Nation
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lost Nation have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Nation
- Lost Nation is located in Ogle County
- Twelvemile Corner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twelvemile Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelvemile Corner
- Twelvemile Corner is located in Lee County
How Far From Ashton to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as Ashton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ashton and extending to:
- Dixon, which is the Seat of Lee County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Ashton to Dixon, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 145 miles [233.4 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 672 miles [1,081.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,240 miles [10,042.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,982 miles [11,236.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,868 miles [7,834.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ashton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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 from Point A (ie- Ashton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ashton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8671, Longitude: -89.2209 |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Ashton 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 Ashton, 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 Ashton 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 315.495 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.539 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.36 degrees. |