Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Serena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Serena and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Serena
- 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 Serena:
- 41.486143, -88.731464
- 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 Serena
- 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 La Salle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- Since Serena is near Grundy County and also Kendall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grundy County
- eBird sighting report for Kendall 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 Serena ...
We found four communities that share the name Serena.
Within Illinois, the name Serena is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Marin County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Serena [Marin County].
- Santa Barbara County
- This Serena is located in Santa Barbara County and lies 1,737 miles [2,795.4 km]<2> to the west of the Serena that is located in La Salle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Barbara County community of Serena.
- Louisiana
- Catahoula Parish
- This Serena is located in Catahoula Parish and lies 714 miles [1,149.1 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Serena that is located in La Salle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Catahoula Parish community of Serena.
- Concordia Parish
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Serena [Concordia Parish].
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near Serena ...
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.
- Catharine
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Central
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east) - Earlville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Earlville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earlville
- Earlville is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,570 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Earlville <4>
- Fox
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast) - Franks
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
- Franks is located in DeKalb County
- Freedom Centre ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freedom Centre have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Centre
- Freedom Centre is located in La Salle County
- Kentland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east) - Knob Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Lisbon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Pavillion
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast) - Reed Crossing
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reed Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Crossing
- Reed Crossing is located in La Salle County
- Sandwich
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandwich
- Sandwich is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,384 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandwich <4>
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Stockdale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast) - Stoneyville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stoneyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoneyville
- Stoneyville is located in La Salle County
- Sulphur Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Sulphur Springs is located in La Salle County
- Triumph
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Triumph have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triumph
- Triumph is located in La Salle County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Triumph <4>
- Stockdale
How Far From Serena 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 Serena to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Serena and extending to:
- Ottawa, which is the Seat of La Salle County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Serena to Ottawa, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 127 miles [204.4 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 641 miles [1,031.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,241 miles [10,043.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,981 miles [11,234.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,866 miles [7,831.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Serena. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for La Salle County: www.lasallecounty.org/
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 Serena 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Serena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Serena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4861, Longitude: -88.7315 In this case, the coordinates for Serena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Serena 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 315.166 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.11 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.221 degrees. |