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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Orchards, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Orchards 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 The Orchards:
    • 42.185302, -88.109800
    • 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 The Orchards
  • 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 Lake County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
    • Since The Orchards is near Cook County and also McHenry 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 McHenry 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 The Orchards

Communities Also Named The Orchards ...

We found five communities that are also named The Orchards.

Within Illinois, the name The Orchards is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Howard County
      • This The Orchards is located in Howard County and lies 622 miles [1,001 km]<1> to the east southeast of the The Orchards that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of The Orchards.
    • New Jersey
      • Mercer County
      • This The Orchards is located in Mercer County and lies 708 miles [1,139.4 km]<1> to the east of the The Orchards that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of The Orchards.
    • North Carolina
      • Wake County
      • This The Orchards is located in Wake County and lies 671 miles [1,079.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the The Orchards that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wake County community of The Orchards.
    • Virginia
      • Roanoke County
      • This The Orchards is located in Roanoke County and lies 550 miles [885.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the The Orchards that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke County community of The Orchards.
    • Washington
      • Clark County
      • This The Orchards is located in Clark County and lies 1,715 miles [2,760 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Orchards that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of The Orchards.

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Orchards ...

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.

  • Ancient Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Ancient Oaks is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oaks
  • Bishops Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Bishops Ridge is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishops Ridge
  • Cedar Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Creek is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
  • Chapel Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Deer Chase
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Deer Chase is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Chase
  • Deer Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Deer Lake is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Lake
  • Deer Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Echo Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Echo Lake is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Lake
  • Lake Zurich
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Park Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Park Hill is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Hill
  • Ponds
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Ponds is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponds
  • Prairie Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Prairie Creek is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Creek
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Quail Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Quail Run is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Quentin Corners
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Quentin Corners is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quentin Corners
    • Ravens Wing
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Ravens Wing is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravens Wing
    • Squires
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Squires is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squires
    • Tall Trees
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Tall Trees is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Trees
    • Timber Trails
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Timber Trails is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Trails

How Far From The Orchards 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 The Orchards to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Waukegan, which is the Seat of Lake County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from The Orchards to Waukegan, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 184 miles [296.1 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 623 miles [1,002.6 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 6,185 miles [9,953.8 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 4,810 miles [7,740.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- The Orchards) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 The Orchards 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 The Orchards. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1853, Longitude: -88.1098       In this case, the coordinates for The Orchards have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.752 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.735 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.715 degrees.