Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Oto, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oto and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Oto
- 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 Oto:
- 42.283837, -95.893297
- 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 Oto
- 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 Woodbury County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Woodbury County
- Since Oto is near Monona County and also Ida County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Monona County
- eBird sighting report for Ida 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
Communities Also Named Oto ...
We found two communities that share the name Oto.
Within Iowa, the name Oto is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oto ...
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.
- Charter Oak
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charter Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Oak
- Charter Oak is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Charter Oak <4>
- Climbing Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climbing Hill
- Climbing Hill is located in Woodbury County
- Correctionville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Correctionville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Correctionville
- Correctionville is located in Woodbury County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 792 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Correctionville <4>
- Holly Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Holly Springs is located in Woodbury County
- Ida Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ida Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida Grove
- Ida Grove is located in Ida County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,037 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ida Grove <4>
- Lucky Valley ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lucky Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucky Valley
- Lucky Valley is located in Woodbury County
- Maple Landing ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Landing
- Maple Landing is located in Monona County
- Ricketts
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast) - Soldier
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldier
- Soldier is located in Monona County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Soldier <4>
How Far From Oto 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 city such as Oto to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Oto and extending to:
- Sioux City, which is the Seat of Woodbury County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Oto to Sioux City, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 126 miles [202.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,013 miles [1,630.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,449 miles [10,378.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,203 miles [11,592.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,108 miles [8,220.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Oto. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Woodbury County: www.woodbury-ia.com/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Oto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2838, Longitude: -95.8933 |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Oto could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Oto 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 320.10 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.873 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.692 degrees. |