Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in North Caledonia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to North Caledonia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for North Caledonia
- 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 North Caledonia:
- 42.369463, -88.892604
- 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 North Caledonia
- 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 Boone County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Boone County
- Since North Caledonia is near Winnebago County and also Rock County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Winnebago County
- eBird sighting report for Rock 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 North Caledonia ...
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.
- Argyle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Blaine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Harlem
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Hunter
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Loves Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loves Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loves Park
- Loves Park is located in Winnebago County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,382 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loves Park <2>
- Morehaven
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Poplar Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
- Poplar Grove is located in Boone County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,075 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poplar Grove <2>
- Prairie View
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie View have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
- Prairie View is located in Boone County
- Stagecoach Hills
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stagecoach Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stagecoach Hills
- Stagecoach Hills is located in Winnebago County
How Far From North Caledonia 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 North Caledonia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of North Caledonia once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in North Caledonia and extending to:
- Belvidere, which is the Seat of Boone County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 182 miles [292.9 km]<4> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from North Caledonia to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 665 miles [1,070.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,204 miles [9,984.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,946 miles [11,178.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,834 miles [7,779.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Boone County: www.boonecountyil.org/
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> | 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 North Caledonia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- North Caledonia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in North Caledonia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3695, Longitude: -88.8926 In this case, the coordinates for North Caledonia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 North Caledonia to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.275 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.358 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.056 degrees. |