Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dakota, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dakota and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dakota
- 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 Dakota:
- 42.388828, -89.526410
- 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 Dakota
- 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 Stephenson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Stephenson County
- Since Dakota is near Winnebago County and also Green County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Winnebago County
- eBird sighting report for Green 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 Dakota ...
We found seven communities that share the name Dakota.
Within Illinois, the name Dakota is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Dooly County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Dakota [Dooly County].
- Turner County
- This Dakota is located in Turner County and lies 799 miles [1,285.9 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Dakota that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Turner County community of Dakota.
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Ontario
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Georgia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dakota ...
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.
- Cedarville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Cedarville is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 675 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedarville <4>
- Damascus
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Freeport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
- Freeport is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,447 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <4>
- Hunt Corners
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunt Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt Corners
- Hunt Corners is located in Stephenson County
- Orangeville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orangeville
- Orangeville is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 737 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orangeville <4>
- Red Oak
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Rock City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Rock Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Grove
- Rock Grove is located in Stephenson County
- Twin Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Grove
- Twin Grove is located in Green County (WI)
- Valley Creek ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Creek
- Valley Creek is located in Stephenson County
How Far From Dakota 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 village such as Dakota to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dakota and extending to:
- Freeport, which is the Seat of Stephenson County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 180 miles [289.7 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Dakota to Springfield, with an average speed<6>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 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 696 miles [1,120.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,226 miles [10,019.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,969 miles [11,215.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,858 miles [7,818.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Dakota. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Stephenson County: www.co.stephenson.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Dakota 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dakota) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dakota. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3888, Longitude: -89.5264 |
| <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 Dakota, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <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 Dakota 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 315.703 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.848 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.371 degrees. |