Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Burns, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Burns and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Burns
- 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 Burns:
- 40.400314, -88.978411
- 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 Burns
- 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 McLean County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McLean County
- Since Burns is near De Witt County and also Logan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for De Witt County
- eBird sighting report for Logan 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 Burns ...
We found 27 communities that share the name Burns.
Within Illinois, the name Burns is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 27 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 27 communities, 26 are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Elkhart 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 Indiana community of Burns [Elkhart County].
- Martin County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Burns [Martin County].
- Kansas
- Butler 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 Burns [Butler County].
- Marion County
- This Burns is located in Marion County and lies 451 miles [725.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Burns that is located in McLean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Burns.
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Jasper 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 Mississippi community of Burns [Jasper County].
- Smith County
- This Burns is located in Smith County and lies 571 miles [918.9 km]<1> to the south of the Burns that is located in McLean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smith County community of Burns.
- Missouri
- Montana
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Bowie County
- This Burns is located in Bowie County and lies 558 miles [898 km]<1> to the southwest of the Burns that is located in McLean County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bowie County community of Burns.
- Cooke 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 Texas community of Burns [Cooke County].
- DeWitt County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Burns [DeWitt County].
- Rusk County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Burns [Rusk County].
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Burns ...
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.
- Bucks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Downs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Downs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downs
- Downs is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 949 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Downs <5>
- Eagle Ridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Ridge
- Eagle Ridge is located in McLean County
- Funks Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Funks Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Funks Grove
- Funks Grove is located in McLean County
- Hedgewood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Holder
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Littleville ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Littleville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
- Littleville is located in McLean County
- Normal
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normal
- Normal is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,451 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Normal <5>
- Randolph
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Shamrock
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Twin Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Grove
- Twin Grove is located in McLean County
How Far From Burns 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 Burns to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Burns and extending to:
- Bloomington, which is the Seat of McLean County, lies just to the North.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Burns to Springfield, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 642 miles [1,033.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,304 miles [10,145.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,041 miles [11,331.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,923 miles [7,922.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Burns. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for McLean County: www.mclean.gov/
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- Burns) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Burns. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4003, Longitude: -88.9784 In this case, the coordinates for Burns 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 Burns 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 Burns, 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 Burns 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 315.319 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.133 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.633 degrees. |