Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cary, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cary and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cary
- 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 Cary:
- 42.212957, -88.248326
- 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 Cary
- 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 Cary is near Lake County and also Cook County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lake County
- eBird sighting report for Cook 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 Cary ...
We found ten communities that share the name Cary.
Within Illinois, the name Cary is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Bleckley County
- This Cary is located in Bleckley County and lies 722 miles [1,161.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Cary that is located in McHenry County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bleckley County community of Cary.
- Pulaski 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 Georgia community of Cary [Pulaski County].
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Scott County
- Although located in Scott County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Cary.
- North Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cary ...
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.
- Crystal Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
- Crystal Lake is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39,642 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crystal Lake <4>
- Cuba
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Fox River Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox River Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox River Grove
- Fox River Grove is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,518 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fox River Grove <4>
- Holiday Hills
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
- Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
- Island Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Island Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
- Island Lake is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
- Lake-in-the-Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake-in-the-Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake-in-the-Hills
- Lake-in-the-Hills is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,345 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake-in-the-Hills <4>
- Prairie Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
- Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
- Silver Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in McHenry County
- Ski Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Terra Cotta
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terra Cotta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terra Cotta
- Terra Cotta is located in McHenry County
- Tower Lakes
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
- Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- Trout Valley
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trout Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
- Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
- Williams Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williams Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Park
- Williams Park is located in Lake County
How Far From Cary 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 village such as Cary to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Cary and extending to:
- Woodstock, which is the Seat of McHenry County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Cary 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 183 miles [294.5 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 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 630 miles [1,013.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,188 miles [9,958.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,929 miles [11,151.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,815 miles [7,749 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Cary: www.caryillinois.com/
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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Cary) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cary. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2130, Longitude: -88.2483 In this case, the coordinates for Cary 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 Cary 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 Cary 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 314.844 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.844 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.776 degrees. |