Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Van Loon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Loon and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Van Loon
- 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 Van Loon:
- 41.568369, -87.422817
- 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 Van Loon
- 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 Lake County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lake County
- Since Van Loon is near Cook County and also Will County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cook County
- eBird sighting report for Will 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 Van Loon ...
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.
- Black Oak
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Gary
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
- Gary is located in Lake County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 74,693 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <2>
- Gerry Park
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gerry Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gerry Park
- Gerry Park is located in Lake County
- Glen Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Hartsdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Highland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Highland is located in Lake County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 22,283 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Highland <2>
- Indiana Harbor
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indiana Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indiana Harbor
- Indiana Harbor is located in Lake County
- Ivanhoe
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Lottaville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lottaville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottaville
- Lottaville is located in Lake County
- Munster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Munster have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munster
- Munster is located in Lake County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 22,483 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Munster <2>
How Far From Van Loon to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Van Loon to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Van Loon and extending to:
- Crown Point, which is the Seat of Lake County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Van Loon to Crown Point, with an average speed<4> 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.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 140 miles [225.3 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 577 miles [928.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,189 miles [9,960.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,927 miles [11,147.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,809 miles [7,739.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Van Loon. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Lake County: www.lakecountyin.org/
The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.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> | 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- Van Loon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Van Loon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5684, Longitude: -87.4228 In this case, the coordinates for Van Loon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Van Loon to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.298 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.131 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.553 degrees. |