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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McCook, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McCook and the surrounding area.
- 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 McCook:
- 41.795885, -87.841335
- 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 McCook
- 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
- Since McCook is near DuPage County and also Will County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Will 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 McCook
Communities Also Named McCook ...
We found three communities that are also named McCook.
Within Illinois, the name McCook is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Nebraska
- Red Willow County
- This McCook is located in Red Willow County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the west of the McCook that is located in Cook County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Red Willow County community of McCook.
- South Dakota
- Union County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of McCook [Union County].
- Texas
- Hidalgo County
- This McCook is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,214 miles [1,953.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the McCook that is located in Cook County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of McCook.
Curious and Interesting Names Near McCook ...
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.
- Archer Limits
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Archer Limits is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer Limits
- Bridgeview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Clearing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Clearing is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearing
- Clyde
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Clyde is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Countryside
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Forest View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Fullersburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Fullersburg is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullersburg
- Gary
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Gary is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
- Glenn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Glenn is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn
- Hickory Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Indian Head Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Indian Head Park is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,680 people
- Justice
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Lyons
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Willow Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
How Far From McCook 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 village such as McCook to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McCook and extending to:
- Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from McCook to Chicago, 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 168 miles [270.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 602 miles [968.8 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,194 miles [9,968.3 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 4,816 miles [7,750.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- McCook) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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 McCook 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 McCook 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 McCook. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7959, Longitude: -87.8413 In this case, the coordinates for McCook have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.575 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.478 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.694 degrees. |
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