Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Otranto, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Otranto and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Otranto
- 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 Otranto:
- 43.458298, -92.985750
- 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 Otranto
- 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 Mitchell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mitchell County
- Since Otranto is near Worth County and also Mower County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Worth County
- eBird sighting report for Mower 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 Otranto ...
We found two communities that share the name Otranto.
Within Iowa, the name Otranto is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- South Carolina
- Barnwell County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Otranto [Barnwell County].
- Charleston County
- This Otranto is located in Charleston County and lies 1,006 miles [1,619 km]<2> to the southeast of the Otranto that is located in Mitchell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charleston County community of Otranto.
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Otranto ...
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.
- Carpenter
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Deer Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
- Deer Creek is located in Worth County
- Johnsburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - London
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Lyle
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle
- Lyle is located in Mower County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyle <5>
- Mitchell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
- Mitchell is located in Mitchell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
- Rose Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Creek
- Rose Creek is located in Mower County (MN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 423 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rose Creek <5>
- Stacyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacyville
- Stacyville is located in Mitchell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 466 people
- Stacyville Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stacyville Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacyville Junction
- Stacyville Junction is located in Mitchell County
How Far From Otranto 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 Otranto to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Otranto and extending to:
- Osage, which is the Seat of Mitchell County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Otranto to Osage, with an average speed<6> 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 four to five hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 132 miles [212.4 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 884 miles [1,422.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,291 miles [10,124.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,043 miles [11,334.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,944 miles [7,956.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Otranto. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Otranto 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Otranto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Otranto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4583, Longitude: -92.9857 In this case, the coordinates for Otranto have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Otranto to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.088 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.719 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.883 degrees. |