Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for West Rural Hill

• 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 West Rural Hill:
  • 37.965604, -88.688391
  • 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 West Rural Hill

• 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 Hamilton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamilton County
  • Since West Rural Hill is near Franklin County and also Saline County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Saline 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 West Rural Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Rural Hill ...

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.

• Cornerville
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cornerville is located in Saline County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerville
• Flint
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Flint is located in Hamilton County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
• Greenville ‑ Historic
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenville is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
• Halltown ‑ Historic
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Halltown is located in Saline County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halltown
• Locust Grove ‑ Historic
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Locust Grove is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
• Long Branch
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Long Branch is located in Saline County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
• Rural Hill
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Rural Hill is located in Hamilton County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural Hill
• Rust
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Rust is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rust
• Smothersville
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Smothersville is located in Franklin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smothersville
• Tuckers Corners
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Tuckers Corners is located in Hamilton County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckers Corners
• University
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • University is located in Hamilton County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University

How Far From West Rural Hill 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 West Rural Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

• McLeansboro, which is the Seat of Hamilton County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Rural Hill to McLeansboro, with an average speed<2> 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 135 miles [217.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 633 miles [1,018.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,412 miles [10,319.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,142 miles [11,493.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,019 miles [8,077.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'