Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wonder Center, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wonder Center and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Wonder Center
- 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 Wonder Center:
- 42.388909, -88.344535
- 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 Wonder Center
- 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 McHenry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McHenry County
- Since Wonder Center is near Lake County and also Walworth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lake County
- eBird sighting report for Walworth 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Wonder Center ...
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.
- Bull Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bull Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Valley
- Bull Valley is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
- Emerald Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerald Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Park
- Emerald Park is located in McHenry County
- Ferndale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Greenwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Hebron
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Hebron is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,175 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hebron <2>
- Johnsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsburg
- Johnsburg is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,310 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnsburg <2>
- Riverstream
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverstream have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverstream
- Riverstream is located in McHenry County
- Spring Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Spring Grove is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,679 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Grove <2>
- Sunnyside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Sunrise Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Ridge
- Sunrise Ridge is located in McHenry County
- Terra Cotta
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Terra Cotta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terra Cotta
- Terra Cotta is located in McHenry County
- Wonder Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wonder Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonder Lake
- Wonder Lake is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,837 people
- Wonder Lake has also been known as:
- Wonder Lake village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wonder Lake <2>
How Far From Wonder Center 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 community such as Wonder Center to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Wonder Center and extending to:
- Woodstock, which is the Seat of McHenry County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 192 miles [309 km]<4> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Wonder Center to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 638 miles [1,026.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,183 miles [9,950.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,811 miles [7,742.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Wonder Center. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for McHenry County: www.co.mchenry.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Wonder Center) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wonder Center. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3889, Longitude: -88.3445 In this case, the coordinates for Wonder Center have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Wonder Center 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 314.907 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.941 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.774 degrees. |