Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Shale Bluff, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shale Bluff and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Shale Bluff

• 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 Shale Bluff:
  • 39.776995, -89.609820
  • 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.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Shale Bluff

• 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 Sangamon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
  • Since Shale Bluff is near Christian County and also Menard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Christian County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Menard 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Shale Bluff

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shale Bluff ...

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.

• Archer
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Archer is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
• Clear Lake
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Clear Lake is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
• Cody
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Cody is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cody
• Cotton Hill
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Cotton Hill is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Hill
• Grandview
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Grandview is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,369 people
• Jerome
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Jerome is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
• Jess
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Jess is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jess
• Mildred
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Mildred is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
• Peabody
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Peabody is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peabody
• Woodside
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodside is located in Sangamon County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside

How Far From Shale Bluff 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 Shale Bluff to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Shale Bluff and extending to:

• Springfield, which is the Seat of Sangamon County, lies just to the West.
• Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies just to the west (W).
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 673 miles [1,083.1 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Shale Bluff to White House, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 39 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 27 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,358 miles [10,232.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,095 miles [11,418.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,976 miles [8,008.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'