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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Champaign, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Champaign and the surrounding area.
- 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 Champaign:
- 40.116378, -88.240377
- 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 Champaign
- 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 Champaign County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Champaign County
- Since Champaign is near Piatt County and also Vermilion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Piatt County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Vermilion 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 Champaign
Curious and Interesting Names Near Champaign ...
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.
- Block
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Block is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Block
- Bondville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Centerville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Centerville is located in Piatt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Deers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Deers is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deers
- Dewey
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Fisher
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Flatville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Glover
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Glover is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glover
- Mayview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Prospect
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Rising
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Rising is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising
- Sellers
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Sellers is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sellers
How Far From Champaign 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 city such as Champaign to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Champaign and extending to:
- Urbana, which is the Seat of Champaign County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 78 miles [125.5 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Champaign to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 602 miles [968.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,290 miles [10,122.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,025 miles [11,305.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,906 miles [7,895.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Champaign) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Champaign 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 Champaign. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1164, Longitude: -88.2404 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.829 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.532 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.352 degrees. |
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