Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Risk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Risk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Risk
- 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 Risk:
- 40.670868, -88.405332
- 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 Risk
- 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 Livingston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Livingston County
- Since Risk is near McLean County and also Ford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for McLean County
- eBird sighting report for Ford 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Risk ...
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.
- Anchor
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor
- Anchor is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anchor <1>
- Cereal
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Charlotte
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Cooksville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Cooksville is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cooksville <1>
- Derby
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south) - Harpster
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - Melvin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melvin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
- Melvin is located in Ford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melvin <1>
- Piper City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piper City
- Piper City is located in Ford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 746 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piper City <1>
- Pleasant Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in McLean County
- Rugby
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north) - Wing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wing
- Wing is located in Livingston County
How Far From Risk 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 Risk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Risk and extending to:
- Pontiac, which is the Seat of Livingston County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<4> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Risk to Pontiac, with an average speed<5> 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 6 hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 89 miles [143.2 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 615 miles [989.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,269 miles [10,089 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,006 miles [11,275.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,888 miles [7,866.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Risk. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Livingston County: www.livingstoncounty-il.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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> | 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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Risk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Risk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6709, Longitude: -88.4053 In this case, the coordinates for Risk 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 Risk 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 314.944 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.741 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.283 degrees. |