Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lake-in-the-Hills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lake-in-the-Hills and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lake-in-the-Hills
- 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 Lake-in-the-Hills:
- 42.180749, -88.303809
- 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 Lake-in-the-Hills
- 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 McHenry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McHenry County
- Since Lake-in-the-Hills is near Kane County and also Cook County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kane County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lake-in-the-Hills ...
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.
- Carpentersville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carpentersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpentersville
- Carpentersville is located in Kane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 36,940 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carpentersville <2>
- Crystal Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Gardens
- Crystal Gardens is located in McHenry County
- Crystal Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
- Crystal Lake is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39,642 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crystal Lake <2>
- Crystal Vista
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Vista
- Crystal Vista is located in McHenry County
- Cuba
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Fox River Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox River Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox River Grove
- Fox River Grove is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,518 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fox River Grove <2>
- Freeman
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Gilberts
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilberts
- Gilberts is located in Kane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,071 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilberts <2>
- Prairie Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
- Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
- Silver Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in McHenry County
- Ski Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Sleepy Hollow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sleepy Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
- Sleepy Hollow is located in Kane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,215 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sleepy Hollow <2>
- Terra Cotta
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terra Cotta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terra Cotta
- Terra Cotta is located in McHenry County
- Trout Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trout Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
- Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
How Far From Lake-in-the-Hills 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 Lake-in-the-Hills to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Lake-in-the-Hills and extending to:
- Woodstock, which is the Seat of McHenry County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Lake-in-the-Hills to Woodstock, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 179 miles [288.1 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 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 632 miles [1,017.1 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,192 miles [9,965.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,933 miles [11,157.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,818 miles [7,753.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Lake-in-the-Hills: www.lith.org/
The official website for McHenry County: www.co.mchenry.il.us/
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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lake-in-the-Hills) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake-in-the-Hills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1807, Longitude: -88.3038 In this case, the coordinates for Lake-in-the-Hills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Lake-in-the-Hills 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 314.881 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.882 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.813 degrees. |