Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cragin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cragin and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Cragin

• 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 Cragin:
  • 41.920310, -87.756169
  • 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 Cragin

• 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
  • Since Cragin is near DuPage County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake 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 Cragin

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cragin ...

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.

• Bricktown
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Bricktown is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricktown
• Galewood
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Galewood is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galewood
• Grayland
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Grayland is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayland
• Humboldt
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Humboldt is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
• Humboldt Park
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Humboldt Park is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt Park
• Maplewood
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Maplewood is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
• Martin Luther
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Martin Luther is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Luther
• Portage Park
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Portage Park is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage Park
• Six Corners
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Six Corners is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Corners
• Whiskey Point
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Whiskey Point is located in Cook County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Point

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

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

• Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies just to the East Southeast.
• Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 177 miles [284.9 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Cragin to Springfield, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 600 miles [965.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,185 miles [9,953.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,924 miles [11,143.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,808 miles [7,737.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'