Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Otipalin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Otipalin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Otipalin
- 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 Otipalin:
- 33.800099, -86.061083
- 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 Otipalin
- 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Since Otipalin is near Saint Clair County and also Etowah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
- eBird sighting report for Etowah 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 Otipalin ...
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.
- Boiling Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boiling Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Springs
- Boiling Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Boozer ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chigger Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
- Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Clark ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Francis
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Francis Ferry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Francis Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis Ferry
- Francis Ferry is located in Calhoun County
- Greensport Ferry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greensport Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greensport Ferry
- Greensport Ferry is located in Saint Clair County
- Hebron ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Peek's Hill ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peek's Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peek's Hill
- Peek's Hill is located in Calhoun County
- Polkville ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Ragland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragland
- Ragland is located in Saint Clair County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,718 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ragland <2>
- Ten Islands
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ten Islands have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Islands
- Ten Islands is located in Calhoun County
How Far From Otipalin 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 Otipalin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Otipalin once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Otipalin and extending to:
- Anniston, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<4> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Otipalin to Anniston, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 612 miles [984.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,507 miles [10,472 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,215 miles [11,611.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,091 miles [8,193.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Calhoun County: www.calhouncounty.org/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Otipalin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 drawn from Point A (ie- Otipalin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Otipalin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8001, Longitude: -86.0611 In this case, the coordinates for Otipalin 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 Otipalin 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 313.248 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.832 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.938 degrees. |