Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Belden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Belden and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Belden
- 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 Belden:
- 42.474185, -88.347315
- 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 Belden
- 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 McHenry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McHenry County
- Since Belden is near Walworth County and also Kenosha County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Walworth County
- eBird sighting report for Kenosha 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 Belden ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Belden.
Within Illinois, the name Belden is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Belden ...
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.
- Greenwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Hebron
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Hebron is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,175 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hebron <4>
- Powers Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Powers Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powers Lake
- Powers Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Shady Side ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Side have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Side
- Shady Side is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Slades Corners
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slades Corners
- Slades Corners is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Spring Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Spring Grove is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,679 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Grove <4>
- Sunrise Ridge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Ridge
- Sunrise Ridge is located in McHenry County
- Twin Lakes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in Kenosha County (WI)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,234 people
- Wonder Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wonder Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonder Center
- Wonder Center is located in McHenry County
- Wonder Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wonder Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonder Lake
- Wonder Lake is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,837 people
- Wonder Lake has also been known as:
- Wonder Lake village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wonder Lake <4>
How Far From Belden 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 Belden to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Belden and extending to:
- Woodstock, which is the Seat of McHenry County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Belden to Woodstock, 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 197 miles [317 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 640 miles [1,030 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,179 miles [9,944.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,921 miles [11,138.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,807 miles [7,736.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Belden. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for McHenry County: www.co.mchenry.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Belden) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Belden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4742, Longitude: -88.3473 In this case, the coordinates for Belden have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Belden 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 Belden 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 314.909 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.955 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.751 degrees. |