Thursday, March 6, 2008

Map of the Week 115-The Oak Park Continental Divide

Continental Divides usually bring up images of snowy mountain peaks but sometimes the mountains look like this:


Yes the suburban folks of Oak Park, Chicagoland, Illinois have their own continental divide and they're proud of it! They even have a web page to showcase it. The map below is proof for skeptics - stand at the corner of Division and Elmwood with a cup of water and watch some of it flow to the Gulf of Mexico while the rest goes to the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence Seaway.


<- This is a detailed map showing the approximate line of the divide. My guess is that the storm drainage system adds a layer of complication, making the map approximate at best.
The map above can be further subdivided - if you do this enough times you will eventually find your own local continental divide that you can brag about!

5 comments:

Michael5000 said...

It's exciting to pass into the Red River/Hudson's Bay drainage in Minnesota and the Dakotas, too. It's kind of a continental divide, kind of a prairie.

Hugh Yeman said...

Just think, I made a special trip to Chicago in January for the Festival of Maps, and I passed mere miles from this great divide without ever knowing it was there, let alone ascending its hallowed slopes!

Dug said...

My bad! I should have known to get all my Chicago maps out there before the big festival. I'm sure you found plenty to do without visiting the divide.
Yes when I'm in NoDak I like to think about how cool it is to be in the Hudson Bay (pseudo-Arctic) drainage system. Yes I'm a geek.

Hugh Yeman said...

Oh yeah, I found plenty to do. I found so much to do that I've been writing up my notes ever since, and I'm still trying to get through day two of four!

Anonymous said...

Interesting to know.