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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Highwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Highwood 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 Highwood:
    • 42.205770, -87.813511
    • 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 Highwood
  • 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 Highwood is near Cook County and also DuPage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage 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 Highwood

Communities Also Named Highwood ...

We found eight communities that are also named Highwood.

There is one other community in Illinois that is also named Highwood.

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

  • Communities Located In Illinois ...
    • Saint Clair County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Highwood [Saint Clair County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Highwood lies 1,377 miles [2,216.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the Highwood that is located in Lake County.
    • Connecticut
      • New Haven County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Connecticut community of Highwood [New Haven County].
    • Michigan
      • Gladwin County
      • This Highwood is located in Gladwin County and lies 213 miles [342.8 km]<2> to the northeast of the Highwood that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gladwin County community of Highwood.
    • Minnesota
      • Ramsey County
      • This Highwood is located in Ramsey County and lies 320 miles [515 km]<2> to the northwest of the Highwood that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ramsey County community of Highwood.
    • Montana
      • Chouteau County
      • This Highwood is located in Chouteau County and lies 1,178 miles [1,895.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Highwood that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chouteau County community of Highwood.
    • New Jersey
      • Bergen County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Highwood [Bergen County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Dane County
      • This Highwood is located in Dane County and lies 76 miles [122.3 km]<2> to the northwest of the Highwood that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dane County community of Highwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Highwood ...

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 Tree
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ancient Tree is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Tree
  • Buttonwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Buttonwood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttonwood
  • Charring Cross
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Charring Cross is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charring Cross
  • Colonial Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Colonial Village is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
  • Deerpath
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Deerpath is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerpath
  • Driftwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Driftwood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Driftwood
  • Everett
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Everett is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett
  • Fair Meadows
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fair Meadows is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Meadows
  • Fair Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Kennedy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kennedy is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
  • Lake Bluff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Lane Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lane Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane Park
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Lee Woods
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Lee Woods is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Woods
    • Maple Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Maple Ridge is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
    • Melody
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Melody is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melody
    • Pheasant Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Pheasant Creek is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Creek
    • Riverwoods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Royal Court
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Royal Court is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Court
    • Sanders Crossing
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sanders Crossing is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Crossing
    • Sanders Prairie
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sanders Prairie is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Prairie
    • Sportmans Cove
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sportmans Cove is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sportmans Cove
    • Sun Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Sun Ridge is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Ridge
    • Sycamore Lane
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Sycamore Lane is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Lane
    • Thorn Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Thorn Hill is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorn Hill
    • Timber Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Timber Ridge is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge

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

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

  • Waukegan, which is the Seat of Lake County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Highwood to Waukegan, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 192 miles [309 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 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,173 miles [9,934.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,913 miles [11,125.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,798 miles [7,721.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Highwood could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>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- Highwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Highwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Highwood 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 Highwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2058, Longitude: -87.8135       In this case, the coordinates for Highwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.554 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.512 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.561 degrees.