Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Riffle, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Riffle and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Riffle
- 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 Riffle:
- 38.805324, -88.564216
- 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 Riffle
- 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 Clay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Clay County
- Since Riffle is near Effingham County and also Fayette County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Effingham County
- eBird sighting report for Fayette 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 Riffle ...
We found one communities that share the name Riffle.
Within Illinois, the name Riffle is unique.
Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named Riffle in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Riffle ...
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.
- Bible Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bible Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bible Grove
- Bible Grove is located in Clay County
- Farina
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farina have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farina
- Farina is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 495 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farina <3>
- Flora
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
- Flora is located in Clay County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,831 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flora <3>
- Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Hoosier
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Hord
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Louisville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Louisville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisville
- Louisville is located in Clay County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,087 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisville <3>
- Mason
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
- Mason is located in Effingham County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 333 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason <3>
- Sailor Springs
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sailor Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sailor Springs
- Sailor Springs is located in Clay County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sailor Springs <3>
How Far From Riffle to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Riffle to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Riffle and extending to:
- Louisville, which is the Seat of Clay County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<4> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Riffle to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 619 miles [996.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,366 miles [10,245.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,098 miles [11,423.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,977 miles [8,009.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Riffle. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Riffle 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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- Riffle) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riffle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8053, Longitude: -88.5642 In this case, the coordinates for Riffle 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 Riffle 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 315.013 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.561 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.842 degrees. |