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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Old Oaks:
    • 41.566944, -88.184444
    • 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 Old Oaks
  • 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 Will County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Will County
    • Since Old Oaks is near Cook County and also Grundy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grundy 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 Old Oaks

Communities Also Named Old Oaks ...

We found one communities that are also named Old Oaks.

Within Illinois, the name Old Oaks is unique.

Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named Old Oaks in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Virginia
      • Goochland County
      • This Old Oaks is located in Goochland County and lies 615 miles [989.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Old Oaks that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Goochland County community of Old Oaks.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Oaks ...

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.

  • Crystal Lawns
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
  • Erin
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Erin is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
  • Fox Meadow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fox Meadow is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Meadow
  • Grand Haven
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Grand Haven is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Haven
  • Grand Prairie
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Grand Prairie is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Prairie
  • Pheasant Landing
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Pheasant Landing is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Landing
  • Pleasant Knoll
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Knoll is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Knoll
  • Prairie Trail
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Prairie Trail is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Trail
  • Riverwalk
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Riverwalk is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwalk
  • Spangler Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Spangler Farms is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler Farms
  • Squires Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Squires Mill is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squires Mill
  • Sunset Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sunset Ridge is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Ridge
  • Vintage Harvest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Vintage Harvest is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintage Harvest
  • Winding Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Winding Creek is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winding Creek

How Far From Old Oaks 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 Old Oaks to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Joliet, which is the Seat of Will County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 145 miles [233.4 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Old Oaks to Springfield, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 615 miles [989.7 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,218 miles [10,006.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,956 miles [11,194.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,840 miles [7,789.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Old Oaks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Old Oaks 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 Old Oaks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5669, Longitude: -88.1844       In this case, the coordinates for Old Oaks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.803 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.706 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.929 degrees.