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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McLean, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McLean 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 McLean:
    • 40.315517, -89.170312
    • 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 McLean
  • 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 McLean County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McLean County
    • Since McLean is near Logan County and also De Witt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Logan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for De Witt 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 McLean

Communities Also Named McLean ...

We found twelve communities that are also named McLean.

Within Illinois, the name McLean is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, nine are located in the United States and three are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Grant 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 Arkansas community of McLean [Grant County].
    • Manitoba
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • Michigan
      • Newaygo County
      • This McLean is located in Newaygo County and lies 266 miles [428.1 km]<2> to the northeast of the McLean that is located in McLean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newaygo County community of McLean.
    • Nebraska
      • Pierce County
      • This McLean is located in Pierce County and lies 453 miles [729 km]<2> to the west northwest of the McLean that is located in McLean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of McLean.
    • New York
      • Tompkins County
      • This McLean is located in Tompkins County and lies 683 miles [1,099.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the McLean that is located in McLean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tompkins County community of McLean.
    • Ohio
      • Fayette County
      • This McLean is located in Fayette County and lies 314 miles [505.3 km]<2> to the east of the McLean that is located in McLean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of McLean.
    • Ontario
      • This McLean lies 694 miles [1,116.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the McLean that is located in McLean County.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This McLean lies 1,005 miles [1,617.4 km]<2> to the northwest of the McLean that is located in McLean County.
    • Tennessee
      • Lewis 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 Tennessee community of McLean [Lewis County].
    • Texas
      • Gray County
      • This McLean is located in Gray County and lies 714 miles [1,149.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the McLean that is located in McLean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gray County community of McLean.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • This McLean is located in Fairfax County and lies 644 miles [1,036.4 km]<2> to the east of the McLean that is located in McLean County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of McLean.
    • West Virginia
      • Barbour 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 West Virginia community of McLean [Barbour County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near McLean ...

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.

  • Bucks
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Bucks is located in De Witt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks
  • Burns
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Burns is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns
  • Evans
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Evans is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
  • Funks Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Funks Grove is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Funks Grove
  • Hallsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Hallsville is located in De Witt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallsville
  • Lawndale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Littleville ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Littleville is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
  • Lucas
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lucas is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas
  • Mountjoy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Mountjoy is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountjoy
  • Randolph
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Randolph is located in McLean County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
  • Union
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Union is located in Logan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union

How Far From McLean to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as McLean to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Bloomington, which is the Seat of McLean County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from McLean to Bloomington, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 44 miles [70.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 652 miles [1,049.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,315 miles [10,163 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,052 miles [11,349.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,935 miles [7,942.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 McLean, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McLean) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 McLean 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 McLean. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3155, Longitude: -89.1703       In this case, the coordinates for McLean have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.444 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.264 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.747 degrees.