Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Hill Top, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hill Top and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Hill Top
- 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 Hill Top:
- 39.989215, -89.883166
- 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 Hill Top
- 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 Menard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Menard County
- Since Hill Top is near Cass County and also Sangamon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cass County
- eBird sighting report for Sangamon 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
Communities Also Named Hill Top ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Hill Top.
Within Illinois, the name Hill Top is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Calhoun County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Hill Top [Calhoun County].
- Marengo County
- This Hill Top is located in Marengo County and lies 545 miles [877.1 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Hill Top that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marengo County community of Hill Top.
- Arkansas
- Benton County
- This Hill Top is located in Benton County and lies 331 miles [532.7 km]<2> to the southwest of the Hill Top that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Hill Top.
- Boone County
- This Hill Top is located in Boone County and lies 322 miles [518.2 km] to the southwest of the Hill Top that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boone County community of Hill Top.
- Kentucky
- Fleming County
- This Hill Top is located in Fleming County and lies 342 miles [550.4 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Hill Top that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fleming County community of Hill Top.
- McCreary County
- This Hill Top is located in McCreary County and lies 367 miles [590.6 km] to the southeast of the Hill Top that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McCreary County community of Hill Top.
- Menifee County
- This Hill Top is located in Menifee County and lies 363 miles [584.2 km] to the east southeast of the Hill Top that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menifee County community of Hill Top.
- Maryland
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Sanpete County
- This Hill Top is located in Sanpete County and lies 1,141 miles [1,836.3 km]<2> to the west of the Hill Top that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sanpete County community of Hill Top.
- Weber County
- This Hill Top is located in Weber County and lies 1,157 miles [1,862 km] to the west northwest of the Hill Top that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weber County community of Hill Top.
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hill Top ...
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.
- Bobtown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Claysville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Claysville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
- Claysville is located in Sangamon County
- Greenview
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenview have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenview
- Greenview is located in Menard County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 715 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenview <5>
- Gurney ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Hilltop
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Lewisburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Pleasant Plains
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
- Pleasant Plains is located in Sangamon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 792 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant Plains <5>
- Salisbury
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
- Salisbury is located in Sangamon County
- Sweet Water
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Water have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Water
- Sweet Water is located in Menard County
How Far From Hill Top 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 Hill Top to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Hill Top and extending to:
- Petersburg, which is the Seat of Menard County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Hill Top to Springfield, with an average speed<6> 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 five to six hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 688 miles [1,107.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,357 miles [10,230.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,095 miles [11,418.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,978 miles [8,011.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Hill Top. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Hill Top, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hill Top) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hill Top. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9892, Longitude: -89.8832 In this case, the coordinates for Hill Top have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Hill Top 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Hill Top to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.909 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.752 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.174 degrees. |