Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Garden Prairie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Garden Prairie and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Garden Prairie
- 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 Garden Prairie:
- 42.253191, -88.725156
- 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 Garden Prairie
- 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 Boone County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Boone County
- Since Garden Prairie is near McHenry County and also DeKalb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for McHenry County
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Garden Prairie ...
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.
- Cherry Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Valley
- Cherry Valley is located in Winnebago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,853 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cherry Valley <2>
- Coral
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Harmony
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Herbert
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Indian Trails
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Trails have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Trails
- Indian Trails is located in McHenry County
- Irene
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Poplar Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
- Poplar Grove is located in Boone County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,075 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poplar Grove <2>
- Prairie View
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie View have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Prairie View is located in Boone County
- Reeds Crossing ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reeds Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Crossing
- Reeds Crossing is located in Boone County
- Union
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Union is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union <2>
How Far From Garden Prairie 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 Garden Prairie to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Garden Prairie and extending to:
- Belvidere, which is the Seat of Boone County, lies just to the West.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 177 miles [284.9 km]<3> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Garden Prairie to Springfield, with an average speed<4>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 654 miles [1,052.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,204 miles [9,984.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,945 miles [11,176.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,832 miles [7,776.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Garden Prairie. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Boone County: www.boonecountyil.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Garden Prairie) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Garden Prairie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2532, Longitude: -88.7252 |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Garden Prairie to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.163 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.214 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.004 degrees. |