RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Cook County >> Avalon Park >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Avalon Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Avalon Park 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 Avalon Park:
    • 41.745035, -87.588658
    • 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 Avalon Park
  • 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Since Avalon Park is near Lake County and also DuPage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage 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 Avalon Park

Communities Also Named Avalon Park ...

We found four communities that are also named Avalon Park.

Within Illinois, the name Avalon Park is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Avalon Park is located in Jefferson County and lies 575 miles [925.4 km]<1> to the south of the Avalon Park that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Avalon Park.
    • Maryland
      • Wicomico County
      • This Avalon Park is located in Wicomico County and lies 675 miles [1,086.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Avalon Park that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wicomico County community of Avalon Park.
    • Missouri
      • Greene County
      • This Avalon Park is located in Greene County and lies 429 miles [690.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Avalon Park that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Avalon Park.
    • Ontario
      • This Avalon Park lies 381 miles [613.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Avalon Park that is located in Cook County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Avalon Park ...

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.

  • Beverly
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Beverly is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
  • Forestville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Forestville is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
  • Grand Boulevard
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Grand Boulevard is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Boulevard
  • Grand Crossing
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Grand Crossing is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Crossing
  • Honeymoon Row
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Honeymoon Row is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honeymoon Row
  • Irondale ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Irondale is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irondale
  • Italian Bowery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Italian Bowery is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Bowery
  • Pierces Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Pierces Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierces Park
  • Poverty Row
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Poverty Row is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poverty Row
  • Roseland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Roseland is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
  • Stony Island
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Stony Island is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Island
  • Woodlawn
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Woodlawn is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

How Far From Avalon Park 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 community such as Avalon Park to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Avalon Park to Chicago, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 173 miles [278.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 588 miles [946.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,187 miles [9,957 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,808 miles [7,737.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Avalon Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Avalon Park 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 Avalon Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7450, Longitude: -87.5887       In this case, the coordinates for Avalon Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.407 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.28 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.584 degrees.