Illinois isn't flat

[thspfc]

I see your guesses and value them as such.  Illinois is flat.

The highest point in Illinois is only 955 feet above the lowest point.  There are cities in Arizona with more elevation change.  Florida is flatter and there are states with less elevation change than Illinois (Delaware and Rhode Island come immediately to mind) but they are much smaller than Illinois.

There's little more boring than the drive on I-55 between East St. Louis and about Joliet.  Why?  Illinois is flat.

False, the only section of I55 that is truly flat is the portion from around Pontiac to Lexington. There are some hills in Logan County and the stretch through Springfield and south of it.

Link us to an example of a "hill" on I-55 in the places you mentioned.

https://goo.gl/maps/4SSieCYmT4RbWq5a8

this stretch is pretty hilly

https://goo.gl/maps/kD3F5dQzb9oJbU1o8

as is this one

https://goo.gl/maps/HuvwPJ9rTikWRAhc7

and here:

https://goo.gl/maps/1wuJUxniJgGeEiUe8

The first one has something that remotely resembles a hill off to the left of the road. The other three are just forests, not hills.

[thspfc]

Not a good example, travel any short amount of mileage in any direction from that area and it's not flat.


https://goo.gl/maps/Sbh7GcafdCQZXSwL6

That is flat. Not by Illinois standards, but flat nonetheless.

So it's Crash_It and kphoger who have the questionable definitions of what "flat" is. An Illinois resident and a former Illinois, now Kansas, resident. Go figure. 

[kphoger]

The camera doesn't do it justice ...

This.

I am frequently surprised by how flat GSV looks when compared to real life in the same location.

So it's Crash_It and kphoger who have the questionable definitions of what "flat" is. An Illinois resident and a former Illinois, now Kansas, resident. Go figure. 

Point taken.  I wholeheartedly agree that most of Illinois is flat, and that those parts of Illinois that are flat are quite flat indeed.  But I still say that southern Illinois and northwestern Illinois are hilly, and that there are small pockets of hilly terrain elsewhere.  Obviously it isn't Colorado or Pennsylvania, but that should hardly be the bar for "flat" either.

And, for what it's worth, there's this whole area of Kansas called the Flint Hills.  I grew up driving roads like this and this and this and this.  Since moving to Wichita, I've had the pleasure of driving roads like this and this and this and this and this.  Is it mountainous?  No, of course not.  But there are plenty of hills in Kansas.

[JoePCool14]

Maybe the problem here is that we're looking at this all wrong.

Illinois is flat because the earth itself is flat.

[Max Rockatansky]

Maybe the problem here is that we're looking at this all wrong.

Illinois is flat because the earth itself is flat.

Hey, don't give people the idea to look at what's beyond the Great Ice Wall.  I got my COVID shot so I could be a Lizard Person with 5G Death Beams for a reason and it wasn't because I like sharing.

[Crash_It]

Illinois is flat. Most of the Midwest away from the Great Lakes and Mississippi River valleys is flat. Illinois fits right in with those.

Says the person who is from a state that can have just as much flat stretches. I gave you an example of a part of Illinois that is truly flat. The rest of the state is not.

[Max Rockatansky]

Illinois is flat. Most of the Midwest away from the Great Lakes and Mississippi River valleys is flat. Illinois fits right in with those.

Says the person who is from a state that can have just as much flat stretches. I gave you an example of a part of Illinois that is truly flat. The rest of the state is not.

What is the point of carrying on trying to convince everyone to see it your way?  Some do, others simply never will.  All this geographic arguing over Illinois of all places?

[kphoger]

Illinois is flat. Most of the Midwest away from the Great Lakes and Mississippi River valleys is flat. Illinois fits right in with those.

Says the person who is from a state that can have just as much flat stretches. I gave you an example of a part of Illinois that is truly flat. The rest of the state is not.

Most of Illinois is flat.  I'm not comfortable with that fact being grounds for a blanket statement like "Illinois is flat", but most of the state really is.

Most of Illinois looks like this.  Most of its Interstates look like this.  River valleys do give rise to some gently rolling terrain like this or this, but that's it for most the most part.  Flat as a pancake?  No.  But still pretty flat.

It's much, much easier to come up with a flat spot in Illinois than it is to come up with a noticeably hilly spot.

[renegade]

Maybe the problem here is that we're looking at this all wrong.

Illinois is flat because the earth itself is flat.

The Earth is round.  Illinois is still flat.

In b4 lock.

[kphoger]

Maybe the problem here is that we're looking at this all wrong.

Illinois is flat because the earth itself is flat.

The Earth is round.  Illinois is still flat.

That would make Illinois an endorheic basin.  Which would be a much more interesting assertion, I must say.

[GaryV]

Convex if looking down on it.

[kphoger]

Convex if looking down on it.

(I edited my post while you were typing.)

[Max Rockatansky]

If the Earth is a flat disk then what is at the bottom of it?  Is a version of Illinois that is shrouded in complete darkness never to be seen?  What if someone was brave enough to dig down to Dark Illinois or climb over to the side via the Great Ice Wall?  Is Dark Illinois flat also or extremely mountainous given it is on the bottom side of the Earth?  How does gravity work again given that it isn't centered around spherical mass?

[kphoger]

If the Earth is a flat disk then what is at the bottom of it?  Is a version of Illinois that is shrouded in complete darkness never to be seen?  What if someone was brave enough to dig down to Dark Illinois or climb over to the side via the Great Ice Wall?  Is Dark Illinois flat also or extremely mountainous given it is on the bottom side of the Earth?  How does gravity work again given that it isn't centered around spherical mass?

The underside of (Dark) Illinois is very hilly–mountainous, even.  It is, however, devoid of fjords.

[Crash_It]

I see your guesses and value them as such.  Illinois is flat.

The highest point in Illinois is only 955 feet above the lowest point.  There are cities in Arizona with more elevation change.  Florida is flatter and there are states with less elevation change than Illinois (Delaware and Rhode Island come immediately to mind) but they are much smaller than Illinois.

There's little more boring than the drive on I-55 between East St. Louis and about Joliet.  Why?  Illinois is flat.

False, the only section of I55 that is truly flat is the portion from around Pontiac to Lexington. There are some hills in Logan County and the stretch through Springfield and south of it.

Link us to an example of a "hill" on I-55 in the places you mentioned.

https://goo.gl/maps/4SSieCYmT4RbWq5a8

this stretch is pretty hilly

https://goo.gl/maps/kD3F5dQzb9oJbU1o8

as is this one

https://goo.gl/maps/HuvwPJ9rTikWRAhc7

and here:

https://goo.gl/maps/1wuJUxniJgGeEiUe8

The first one has something that remotely resembles a hill off to the left of the road. The other three are just forests, not hills.

Nope, those are hills. Terrain is more rugged in those areas.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Illinois is flat. Most of the Midwest away from the Great Lakes and Mississippi River valleys is flat. Illinois fits right in with those.

Says the person who is from a state that can have just as much flat stretches. I gave you an example of a part of Illinois that is truly flat. The rest of the state is not.

Uh...Minnesota is pretty flat. I'm not the one trying to quantify or deny how flat/non-flat my state is.

[kphoger]

It's easier to see the hills if you switch to a wintertime GSV:  https://goo.gl/maps/W7q8rWJauQZxqzQ36

Even so, "rugged" is hardly an apt description.  "Gently rolling" is more accurate.

[JoePCool14]

Maybe the problem here is that we're looking at this all wrong.

Illinois is flat because the earth itself is flat.

The Earth is round.  Illinois is still flat.

In b4 lock.

I hope no one's actually taking my post seriously.

[Max Rockatansky]

Maybe the problem here is that we're looking at this all wrong.

Illinois is flat because the earth itself is flat.

The Earth is round.  Illinois is still flat.

In b4 lock.

I hope no one's actually taking my post seriously.

One person definitely is.

[Dougtone]

Take Historic US 20 west from Rockford to Dubuque. That part of Illinois is not flat, just driftless.

[SSOWorld]

Only part of that state that is obviously hilly: Jo Daviess County.  All 101 other counties are not

[thspfc]

Illinois is flat. Most of the Midwest away from the Great Lakes and Mississippi River valleys is flat. Illinois fits right in with those.

Says the person who is from a state that can have just as much flat stretches. I gave you an example of a part of Illinois that is truly flat. The rest of the state is not.

Uh...Minnesota is pretty flat. I'm not the one trying to quantify or deny how flat/non-flat my state is.

This type of ad-hominem stuff is prevalent all around the internet nowadays . . . for example, if a fan of sports team A says "sports team B stinks because x, y, and z", sports team B fans will flood the page with replies like "well sports team A stinks too so shut up". Like, it's not a competition. It should be possible to have intelligent discussion about a certain thing without a completely different matter being brought up, right?

Though Crash_It is technically right about Minnesota having more mileage of flat roadway than Illinois, due to Minnesota being a significantly larger state. However, the average road in Illinois is flatter than the average road in Minnesota.

That's why I've been saying that Texas is, by some definitions, the flattest state in the country, because it's so huge and has so many flat roads.

[kphoger]

Only part of that state that is obviously hilly: Jo Daviess County.  All 101 other counties are not

Pope County?  (GSV, GSV, GSV)

Union County?  (GSV, GSV, GSV)

These are the sort of roads I used to drive every day when I lived in Herrin and had a delivery route in the area.

And there are even more striking examples if you venture off the main roads (all except one of those GSV shots are from state routes or former state routes).  County roads like this and this and this and this and this were generally my favorites, and I was always happy when my route allowed me to drive them.

[GCrites]

this is getting weird

[renegade]

this is getting weird

This thread got weird from the leading post.  It went downhill after that.