Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Helmar

• 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 Helmar:
  • 41.545030, -88.483961
  • 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 Helmar

• 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 Kendall County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Kendall County
  • Since Helmar is near La Salle County and also Grundy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for La Salle County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Grundy 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 Helmar

Curious and Interesting Names Near Helmar ...

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.

• Central
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Central is located in Kendall County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
• Countryside
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Countryside is located in Kendall County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
• Fox
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Fox is located in Kendall County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox
• Kentland
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Kentland is located in Kendall County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentland
• Knob Hill
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Knob Hill is located in Kendall County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob Hill
• Lisbon
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Lisbon is located in Kendall County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
• Pavillion
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Pavillion is located in Kendall County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion
• Sandwich
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Sandwich is located in DeKalb County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandwich
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,384 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandwich <1>
• White Willow ‑ Historic
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • White Willow is located in Kendall County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Willow

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

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

• Yorkville, which is the Seat of Kendall County, lies just to the North Northeast.
• Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Helmar to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 630 miles [1,013.9 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 6,230 miles [10,026.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,969 miles [11,215.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,853 miles [7,810.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'