Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rock Falls, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rock Falls and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rock Falls
- 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 Rock Falls:
- 41.779676, -89.689549
- 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 Rock Falls
- 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 Whiteside County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Whiteside County
- Since Rock Falls is near Lee County and also Ogle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lee County
- eBird sighting report for Ogle 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 Rock Falls ...
We found three communities that share the name Rock Falls.
Within Illinois, the name Rock Falls is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Cerro Gordo County
- This Rock Falls is located in Cerro Gordo County and lies 199 miles [320.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Rock Falls that is located in Whiteside County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cerro Gordo County community of Rock Falls.
- Nebraska
- Phelps County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Rock Falls [Phelps County].
- Wisconsin
- Dunn County
- This Rock Falls is located in Dunn County and lies 226 miles [363.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Rock Falls that is located in Whiteside County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dunn County community of Rock Falls.
- Iowa
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rock Falls ...
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.
- Buffalo Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Grove
- Buffalo Grove is located in Ogle County
- Deer Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Grove
- Deer Grove is located in Whiteside County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Grove <4>
- Eagle Point
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Point
- Eagle Point is located in Ogle County
- Lincoln Heights
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Heights
- Lincoln Heights is located in Lee County
- Love
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south) - Nelson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nelson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
- Nelson is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nelson <4>
- Normandy
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south) - Polo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo
- Polo is located in Ogle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,158 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Polo <4>
- Prairieville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairieville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Prairieville is located in Lee County
- Prophetstown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prophetstown
- Prophetstown is located in Whiteside County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,919 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prophetstown <4>
- Round Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Grove
- Round Grove is located in Whiteside County
- Unionville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Whiteside County
- White Pigeon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Pigeon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Pigeon
- White Pigeon is located in Whiteside County
- Woodland Shores
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodland Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Shores
- Woodland Shores is located in Lee County
How Far From Rock Falls 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 city such as Rock Falls to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rock Falls and extending to:
- Morrison, which is the Seat of Whiteside County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Rock Falls to Morrison, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 137 miles [220.5 km] to the south (S). 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 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 694 miles [1,116.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,262 miles [10,077.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,004 miles [11,271.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,891 miles [7,871.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rock Falls. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Whiteside County: www.whiteside.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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- Rock Falls) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rock Falls. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7797, Longitude: -89.6895 |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Rock Falls 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 Rock Falls 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 315.81 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.886 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.618 degrees. |