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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 Des Plaines, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Des Plaines 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 Des Plaines:
- 42.041621, -87.887624
- 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 Des Plaines
- 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 Des Plaines 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 Des Plaines
Curious and Interesting Names Near Des Plaines ...
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.
- Arrowhead
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Arrowhead is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
- Birch Pond
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Birch Pond is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birch Pond
- Cobblewood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cobblewood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobblewood
- Covenant Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Covenant Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covenant Village
- Cozy Corner
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Cozy Corner is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cozy Corner
- Edison
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Edison is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
- Elk Grove Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Forest River
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Forest River is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest River
- Fox Hedge
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fox Hedge is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hedge
- Fox Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Fox Run is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Run
- Glenview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Golf
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Heathercrest
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Heathercrest is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heathercrest
- Indian Ridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Indian Ridge is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Ridge
- Mallard Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mallard Creek is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard Creek
- Meadow Green
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Meadow Green is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Green
- Norma
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Norma is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norma
- Park Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Riverview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Riverview is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Royal Court
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Royal Court is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Court
- Solar Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Solar Grove is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solar Grove
- Stonebrook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Stonebrook is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonebrook
- Stonegate
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Stonegate is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate
- Summerhill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Summerhill is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerhill
- Sunset Fields
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Sunset Fields is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Fields
- Willow Cove
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Cove is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Cove
- Willow Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Creek is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
- Willow Wood
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Wood is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Wood
How Far From Des Plaines 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 city such as Des Plaines to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Des Plaines and extending to:
- Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Des Plaines to Chicago, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 181 miles [291.3 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 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 609 miles [980.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 6,184 miles [9,952.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,923 miles [11,141.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,808 miles [7,737.7 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Des Plaines) 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 Des Plaines 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 Des Plaines. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0416, Longitude: -87.8876 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.604 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.547 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.646 degrees. |
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