Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 McHenry Shores:
  • 42.318911, -88.258142
  • 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 McHenry Shores

• 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:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for McHenry County
  • Since McHenry Shores is near Lake County and also Cook County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
  • Open the 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for McHenry Shores

Curious and Interesting Names Near McHenry Shores ...

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.

• Bull Valley
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Bull Valley is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Valley
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
• Emerald Park
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Emerald Park is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Park
• Ferndale
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Ferndale is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
• Holiday Hills
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
• Island Lake
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Island Lake is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
• Johnsburg
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Johnsburg is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsburg
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,310 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnsburg <1>
• Kings Island
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Kings Island is located in Lake County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Island
• Prairie Grove
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
• Riverstream
  (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Riverstream is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverstream
• Silver Lake
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Silver Lake is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
• Sunnyside
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Sunnyside is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
• Terra Cotta
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Terra Cotta is located in McHenry County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terra Cotta
• Williams Park
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Williams Park is located in Lake County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Park

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

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

• Woodstock, which is the Seat of McHenry County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from McHenry Shores to Woodstock, with an average speed<3> 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 189 miles [304.2 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 633 miles [1,018.7 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 6,184 miles [9,952.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,811 miles [7,742.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'