RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Will County >> Bolingbrook >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bolingbrook, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bolingbrook 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 Bolingbrook:
    • 41.698491, -88.068312
    • 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 Bolingbrook
  • 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 Will County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Will County
    • Since Bolingbrook is near Cook County and also DuPage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook 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 Bolingbrook

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bolingbrook ...

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.

  • Cherrywood
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Cherrywood is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrywood
  • Colonial Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Colonial Village is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
  • Heather Sound
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Heather Sound is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Sound
  • Heritage Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Heritage Creek is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Creek
  • Home Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Home Run is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Run
  • Honeytree
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Honeytree is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honeytree
  • Hunters Trail
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hunters Trail is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Trail
  • Indian Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Indian Oaks is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Oaks
  • Ivanhoe
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Kings Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Kings Park is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
  • Pepper Tree
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Pepper Tree is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pepper Tree
  • Quail Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Quail Grove is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Grove
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Stonegate
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Stonegate is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
    • Sugar Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sugar Brook is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Brook
    • Walnut Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Walnut Ridge is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Ridge
    • Walnut Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Walnut Woods is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Woods
    • Willow Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Willow Grove is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Grove
    • Woodleaf
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Woodleaf is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodleaf

How Far From Bolingbrook 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 Bolingbrook to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Bolingbrook and extending to:

  • Joliet, which is the Seat of Will County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Bolingbrook to Joliet, with an average speed<2> 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 156 miles [251.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 611 miles [983.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,207 miles [9,989.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,946 miles [11,178.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,830 miles [7,773.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Bolingbrook) 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 Bolingbrook 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 Bolingbrook. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6985, Longitude: -88.0683    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.726 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.636 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.834 degrees.