Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Willow, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Willow and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Willow
- 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 Willow:
- 42.278073, -89.949846
- 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 Willow
- 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 Jo Daviess County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jo Daviess County
- Since Willow is near Stephenson County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Stephenson County
- eBird sighting report for Carroll 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 Willow ...
We found 22 communities that share the name Willow.
Within Illinois, the name Willow is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 22 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Alaska
- This Willow lies 2,754 miles [4,432.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the Willow that is located in Jo Daviess County.
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Hillsborough County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Willow [Hillsborough County].
- Manatee County
- This Willow is located in Manatee County and lies 1,097 miles [1,765.5 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Willow that is located in Jo Daviess County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Manatee County community of Willow.
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Bracken County
- This Willow is located in Bracken County and lies 393 miles [632.5 km]<2> to the southeast of the Willow that is located in Jo Daviess County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bracken County community of Willow.
- Lee County
- This Willow is located in Lee County and lies 458 miles [737.1 km] to the southeast of the Willow that is located in Jo Daviess County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Willow.
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Cuyahoga County
- This Willow is located in Cuyahoga County and lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<2> to the east of the Willow that is located in Jo Daviess County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cuyahoga County community of Willow.
- Hamilton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Willow [Hamilton County].
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Willow ...
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.
- Bolton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Elmoville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Georgetown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Georgetown is located in Carroll County
- Kent
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Kent is located in Stephenson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent <5>
- Lena
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lena
- Lena is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,680 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lena <5>
- Pearl City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
- Pearl City is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 772 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearl City <5>
- Pitcherville ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pitcherville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitcherville
- Pitcherville is located in Jo Daviess County
- Sunnyside
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Yellow Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Yellow Creek is located in Stephenson County
How Far From Willow 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 Willow to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Willow and extending to:
- Galena, which is the Seat of Jo Daviess County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Willow to Galena, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 172 miles [276.8 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 715 miles [1,150.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,246 miles [10,052 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,990 miles [11,249.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,879 miles [7,852 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Willow. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jo Daviess County: www.jodaviess.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Willow 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Willow) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Willow. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2781, Longitude: -89.9498 In this case, the coordinates for Willow have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Willow, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Willow to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.989 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.16 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.616 degrees. |