Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Nilwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Nilwood and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Nilwood
- 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 Nilwood:
- 39.399506, -89.807735
- 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 Nilwood
- 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 Macoupin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Macoupin County
- Since Nilwood is near Montgomery County and also Sangamon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Nilwood ...
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.
- Farmersville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmersville
- Farmersville is located in Montgomery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 662 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farmersville <2>
- Greenridge
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenridge
- Greenridge is located in Macoupin County
- Honey Bend
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Bend
- Honey Bend is located in Montgomery County
- Lemmon ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Raymond
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
- Raymond is located in Montgomery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 927 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymond <2>
- Reader
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Shop Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shop Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shop Creek
- Shop Creek is located in Montgomery County
- Standard City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard City
- Standard City is located in Macoupin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
- Tower Heights
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Heights
- Tower Heights is located in Sangamon County
How Far From Nilwood 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 town such as Nilwood to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Nilwood and extending to:
- Carlinville, which is the Seat of Macoupin County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Nilwood to Carlinville, with an average speed<4> 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 27 miles [43.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 684 miles [1,100.8 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,384 miles [10,274.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,120 miles [11,458.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,001 miles [8,048.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Nilwood. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 '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- Nilwood) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Nilwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3995, Longitude: -89.8077 In this case, the coordinates for Nilwood 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 Nilwood 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 315.843 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.595 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.282 degrees. |