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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Orland Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orland Park 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 Orland Park:
    • 41.623258, -87.853688
    • 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 Orland Park
  • 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Since Orland Park is near Will County and also DuPage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Will County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage 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 Orland Park

Curious and Interesting Names Near Orland Park ...

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.

  • Alpine
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Alpine is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Chickasaw
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Chickasaw is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickasaw
  • Dawn Wood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Dawn Wood is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawn Wood
  • Derby Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Derby Hills is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby Hills
  • Derby Meadows
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Derby Meadows is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby Meadows
  • Doctor Parker Place
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Doctor Parker Place is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctor Parker Place
  • Equestrian Woods
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Equestrian Woods is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Equestrian Woods
  • Erin Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Erin Hills is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin Hills
  • Fox Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Fox Hills is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hills
  • Homer Glen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Meadowview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Meadowview is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
  • Pebble Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pebble Creek is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Creek
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Spaniel Woods
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Spaniel Woods is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaniel Woods
    • Spring Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Spring Creek is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
    • Twin Lakes
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Twin Lakes is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Worth
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)

How Far From Orland Park 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 village such as Orland Park to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Orland Park and extending to:

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Orland Park to Chicago, 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 most of a day.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 158 miles [254.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 599 miles [964 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,203 miles [9,982.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,941 miles [11,170.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,824 miles [7,763.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Orland Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Orland Park 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 Orland Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6233, Longitude: -87.8537    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.583 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.463 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.75 degrees.