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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Wideview:
    • 41.938639, -88.381745
    • 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 Wideview
  • 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 Kane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kane County
    • Since Wideview is near DuPage County and also Cook County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook 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 Wideview

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wideview ...

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.

  • Bonnie
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Bonnie is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
    • Bonnie has also been known as:
    • Bonnie Valley
  • Burning Tree
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Burning Tree is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burning Tree
  • Deer Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Deer Run is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Run
  • Empire Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Empire Hills is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire Hills
  • Fair Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Far View
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Far View is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Far View
  • Happy Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Happy Hills is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hills
  • Hedgerow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hedgerow is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedgerow
  • High Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • High Point is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Homeward Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Homeward Hill is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeward Hill
  • Kings Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Kings Mill is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Mill
  • Middlecreek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Middlecreek is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlecreek
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Pheasant Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Pheasant Run is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Run
    • Rainbow Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Rainbow Hills is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Hills
    • Redgate Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Redgate Ridge is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redgate Ridge
    • Wildrose
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Wildrose is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildrose
    • Wildrose Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Wildrose Valley is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildrose Valley

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

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

  • Geneva, which is the Seat of Kane County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 162 miles [260.7 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Wideview to Springfield, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 631 miles [1,015.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 6,207 miles [9,989.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,947 miles [11,180.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,832 miles [7,776.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wideview) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Wideview 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 Wideview. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9386, Longitude: -88.3817       In this case, the coordinates for Wideview have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.934 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.908 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.921 degrees.