RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Lake County >> Fox River Valley Gardens >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fox River Valley Gardens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fox River Valley Gardens and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for Fox River Valley Gardens
  • 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 Fox River Valley Gardens:
    • 42.243667, -88.198
    • 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 Fox River Valley Gardens
  • 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 Lake County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
    • Since Fox River Valley Gardens is near McHenry County and also Cook County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McHenry County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook 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 Fox River Valley Gardens

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fox River Valley Gardens ...

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.

  • Ancient Oaks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ancient Oaks is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oaks
  • Cuba
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Cuba is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
  • Emerald Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Emerald Park is located in McHenry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Park
  • Ferndale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ferndale is located in McHenry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
  • Fox River Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Holiday Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
  • Island Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Island Lake is located in McHenry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
  • Lake Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Lake Corner is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Corner
  • Prairie Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
  • Silver Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Silver Lake is located in McHenry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
  • Ski Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Ski Hill is located in McHenry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ski Hill
  • Thornfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Thornfield is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornfield
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Timber Trails
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Timber Trails is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Trails
    • Tower Lakes
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
    • Trout Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
    • Williams Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Williams Park is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Park

How Far From Fox River Valley Gardens 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 village such as Fox River Valley Gardens to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Fox River Valley Gardens and extending to:

  • Waukegan, which is the Seat of Lake County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Fox River Valley Gardens to Waukegan, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 186 miles [299.3 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 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 628 miles [1,010.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,926 miles [11,146.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,811 miles [7,742.6 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fox River Valley Gardens) 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 Fox River Valley Gardens 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 Fox River Valley Gardens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2437, Longitude: -88.1980       In this case, the coordinates for Fox River Valley Gardens have been taken from the 2010 Census.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.81 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.81 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.742 degrees.