RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> McLean County >> Eagle Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Eagle Ridge:
    • 40.514480, -88.927573
    • 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 Eagle Ridge
  • 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 McLean County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McLean County
    • Since Eagle Ridge is near Woodford County and also De Witt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Woodford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for De Witt 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 Eagle Ridge

Communities Also Named Eagle Ridge ...

We found two communities that are also named Eagle Ridge.

Within Illinois, the name Eagle Ridge is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Jefferson County
      • This Eagle Ridge is located in Jefferson County and lies 487 miles [783.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Eagle Ridge that is located in McLean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Eagle Ridge.
    • British Columbia
      • This Eagle Ridge lies 1,747 miles [2,811.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Eagle Ridge that is located in McLean County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Eagle Ridge ...

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.

  • Burns
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Burns is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns
  • Clarksville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarksville is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
  • Downs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Hedgewood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hedgewood is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedgewood
  • Holder
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Holder is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holder
  • Normal
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Randolph
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Randolph is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
  • Shamrock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Shamrock is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
  • Timber Ridge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Timber Ridge is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
  • Twin Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Twin Grove is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Grove

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Eagle Ridge and extending to:

  • Bloomington, which is the Seat of McLean County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 63 miles [101.4 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Eagle Ridge to Springfield, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 640 miles [1,030 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,296 miles [10,132.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,034 miles [11,320.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,916 miles [7,911.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Eagle Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Eagle Ridge 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 Eagle Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5145, Longitude: -88.9276       In this case, the coordinates for Eagle Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.287 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.112 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.578 degrees.