Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Urbana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Urbana and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Urbana
- 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 Urbana:
- 40.110812, -88.204962
- 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 Urbana
- 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 Champaign County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Champaign County
- Since Urbana is near Vermilion County and also Piatt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Vermilion County
- eBird sighting report for Piatt 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 Urbana ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Urbana.
Within Illinois, the name Urbana is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Allen 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 Kansas community of Urbana [Allen County].
- Nemaha County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Urbana [Nemaha County].
- Neosho County
- This Urbana is located in Neosho County and lies 425 miles [684 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Urbana that is located in Champaign County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Neosho County community of Urbana.
- Shawnee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Urbana [Shawnee County].
- Maryland
- Missouri
- Dallas County
- This Urbana is located in Dallas County and lies 308 miles [495.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Urbana that is located in Champaign County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dallas County community of Urbana.
- Henry 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 Missouri community of Urbana [Henry County].
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Urbana ...
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.
- Block
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Bondville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondville
- Bondville is located in Champaign County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 429 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bondville <4>
- Deers
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Flatville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatville
- Flatville is located in Champaign County
- Glover
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Mayview
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
- Mayview is located in Champaign County
- Rising
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Sellers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Urbana 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 Urbana to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Urbana and extending to:
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 79 miles [127.1 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Urbana to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 600 miles [965.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,289 miles [10,121.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,024 miles [11,304 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,904 miles [7,892.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Urbana: www.city.urbana.il.us/
The official website for Champaign County: www.co.champaign.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Urbana) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Urbana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1108, Longitude: -88.2050 |
| <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 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 Urbana 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 Urbana 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 314.806 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.505 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.337 degrees. |