RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Cook County >> Skokie >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Skokie:
    • 42.035889, -87.740188
    • 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 Skokie
  • 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Since Skokie is near Lake County and also DuPage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage 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 Skokie

Curious and Interesting Names Near Skokie ...

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.

  • Birchwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Birchwood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchwood
  • California Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • California Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California Park
  • Cedar Lawn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Lawn is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lawn
  • Driftwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Driftwood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Driftwood
  • Edgewater
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Edgewater is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Edison
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Edison is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
  • Glenview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Golf
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Grayland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Grayland is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayland
  • Gross Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Gross Point is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gross Point
  • Lakeview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lakeview is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Lincoln Square ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln Square is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Square
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Lincolnwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Martin Luther
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Martin Luther is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Luther
    • Park Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Portage Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Portage Park is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage Park
    • Ravenswood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ravenswood is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
    • Ravenswood Gardens
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ravenswood Gardens is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood Gardens
    • Ravenswood Place
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ravenswood Place is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood Place
    • Rogers Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Rogers Park is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers Park
    • Royal Ridge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Royal Ridge is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Ridge
    • Six Corners
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Six Corners is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Corners
    • Summerdale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Summerdale is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerdale
    • Sun Ridge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Sun Ridge is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Ridge
    • Sunnyside
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunnyside is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Sunset Court
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset Court is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Court
    • Swedentown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Swedentown is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedentown
    • Willow Cove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Willow Cove is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Cove
    • Willow Wood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Willow Wood is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Wood

How Far From Skokie to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as Skokie to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Skokie and extending to:

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Skokie to Chicago, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 184 miles [296.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 602 miles [968.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,178 miles [9,942.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,918 miles [11,133.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,802 miles [7,728.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Skokie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Skokie to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Skokie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0359, Longitude: -87.7402       In this case, the coordinates for Skokie have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.506 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.434 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.574 degrees.