Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Polk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Polk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Polk
- 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 Polk:
- 41.311701, -87.608372
- 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 Polk
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Will County
- Since Polk is near Kankakee County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kankakee County
- eBird sighting report for Lake 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
Communities Also Named Polk ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Polk.
Within Illinois, the name Polk is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Polk ...
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.
- Cedar Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
- Cedar Lake is located in Lake County (IN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,588 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Lake <4>
- Claus
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Cook
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Crete
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crete have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crete
- Crete is located in Will County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,938 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crete <4>
- Eagle Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
- Eagle Lake is located in Will County
- Garden of Eden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden of Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden of Eden
- Garden of Eden is located in Kankakee County
- Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Log Cabin Camp
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Log Cabin Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Cabin Camp
- Log Cabin Camp is located in Kankakee County
- River
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Shadow Lawn
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shadow Lawn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Lawn
- Shadow Lawn is located in Kankakee County
- University Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
- University Park is located in Will County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,817 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for University Park <4>
- Willowbrook
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willowbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook
- Willowbrook is located in Will County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willowbrook <4>
How Far From Polk 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 Polk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Polk and extending to:
- Joliet, which is the Seat of Will County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Polk to Joliet, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 150 miles [241.4 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 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 582 miles [936.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,209 miles [9,992.4 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 4,828 miles [7,769.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Polk. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Will County: www.willcountyillinois.com/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Polk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Polk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3117, Longitude: -87.6084 In this case, the coordinates for Polk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Polk could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Polk 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 314.422 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.235 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.718 degrees. |