RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Saint Joseph County >> Chain-O-Lakes >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Chain-O-Lakes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chain-O-Lakes 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 Chain-O-Lakes:
    • 41.708380, -86.380012
    • 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 Chain-O-Lakes
  • 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 Saint Joseph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Joseph County
    • Since Chain-O-Lakes is near LaPorte County and also Berrien County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for LaPorte County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berrien 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 Chain-O-Lakes

Communities Also Named Chain-O-Lakes ...

We found three communities that are also named Chain-O-Lakes.

Within Indiana, the name Chain-O-Lakes is unique.

Beyond Indiana, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Lake County
      • This Chain-O-Lakes is located in Lake County and lies 919 miles [1,479 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Chain-O-Lakes that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Chain-O-Lakes.
    • Missouri
      • Barry County
      • This Chain-O-Lakes is located in Barry County and lies 531 miles [854.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Chain-O-Lakes that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barry County community of Chain-O-Lakes.
    • Wisconsin
      • Waupaca County
      • This Chain-O-Lakes is located in Waupaca County and lies 229 miles [368.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Chain-O-Lakes that is located in Saint Joseph County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Waupaca County community of Chain-O-Lakes.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Chain-O-Lakes ...

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.

  • Bakertown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Bakertown is located in Berrien County (MI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakertown
  • Georgetown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Georgetown is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Hicks
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Hicks is located in LaPorte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
  • Indian Village
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Indian Village is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
  • Maple Lane
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Maple Lane is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Lane
  • Nutwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Nutwood is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutwood
  • Olive
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Olive is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
  • Roseland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Roseland is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people

How Far From Chain-O-Lakes 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 Chain-O-Lakes to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Chain-O-Lakes and extending to:

  • South Bend, which is the Seat of Saint Joseph County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 134 miles [215.7 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Chain-O-Lakes to Indianapolis, 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 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 528 miles [849.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,144 miles [9,887.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,880 miles [11,072.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,761 miles [7,662.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Chain-O-Lakes) 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 Chain-O-Lakes 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 Chain-O-Lakes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7084, Longitude: -86.3800       In this case, the coordinates for Chain-O-Lakes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.611 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.367 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.001 degrees.