Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bedford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bedford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bedford
- 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 Bedford:
- 39.529607, -90.584026
- 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 Bedford
- 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 Pike County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pike County
- Since Bedford is near Scott County and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Scott County
- eBird sighting report for Greene 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 Bedford ...
We found 32 communities that share the name Bedford.
Within Illinois, the name Bedford is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 32 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 32 communities, 27 are located in the United States and five are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Madison Parish
- This Bedford is located in Madison Parish and lies 503 miles [809.5 km]<1> to the south of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison Parish community of Bedford.
- Red River Parish
- 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 Louisiana community of Bedford [Red River Parish].
- Manitoba
- This Bedford lies 735 miles [1,182.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Calhoun County
- This Bedford is located in Calhoun County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Bedford.
- Wayne 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 Michigan community of Bedford [Wayne County].
- Missouri
- Montana
- Broadwater County
- This Bedford is located in Broadwater County and lies 1,155 miles [1,858.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Broadwater County community of Bedford.
- Jefferson 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 Montana community of Bedford [Jefferson County].
- New Brunswick
- This Bedford lies 1,303 miles [2,097 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Kings 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 New York community of Bedford [Kings County].
- Westchester County
- This Bedford is located in Westchester County and lies 897 miles [1,443.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westchester County community of Bedford.
- North Carolina
- Nova Scotia
- This Bedford lies 1,417 miles [2,280.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Bedford lies 798 miles [1,284.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- Pennsylvania
- Quebec
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Bedford City
- This Bedford is located in Bedford City and lies 616 miles [991.4 km]<1> to the east of the Bedford that is located in Pike County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bedford City community of Bedford.
- Shenandoah 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 Virginia community of Bedford [Shenandoah County].
- Washington
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bedford ...
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.
- Florence
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Glasgow
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow
- Glasgow is located in Scott County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
- Grand Pass
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Pass have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Pass
- Grand Pass is located in Greene County
- Greenpond
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Hanks Station
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanks Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanks Station
- Hanks Station is located in Greene County
- Hillview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillview have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
- Hillview is located in Greene County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillview <4>
- Montezuma
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Old Pearl
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Pearl
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
- Pearl is located in Pike County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearl <4>
- Time
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
How Far From Bedford 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 Bedford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bedford and extending to:
- Pittsfield, which is the Seat of Pike County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bedford to Pittsfield, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 52 miles [83.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 725 miles [1,166.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,406 miles [10,309.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,144 miles [11,497.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,027 miles [8,090.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bedford. 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' (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- Bedford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bedford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5296, Longitude: -90.5840 |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Bedford 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Bedford 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 316.36 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.208 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.623 degrees. |