Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ottawa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ottawa and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ottawa
- 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 Ottawa:
- 41.029998, -93.591049
- 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 Ottawa
- 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 Clarke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Clarke County
- Since Ottawa is near Lucas County and also Decatur County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lucas County
- eBird sighting report for Decatur 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 Ottawa ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Ottawa.
There is one other community in Iowa which is also named Ottawa.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Iowa ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Douglas County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Ottawa [Douglas County].
- Franklin County
- This Ottawa is located in Franklin County and lies 189 miles [304.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Ottawa that is located in Clarke County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Ottawa.
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Monroe County
- This Ottawa is located in Monroe County and lies 523 miles [841.7 km]<1> to the east of the Ottawa that is located in Clarke County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Ottawa.
- Ottawa County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Ottawa [Ottawa County].
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Ottawa lies 947 miles [1,524 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ottawa that is located in Clarke County.
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ottawa ...
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.
- Cool
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Derby
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Groveland ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Jay
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Last Chance
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Last Chance have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
- Last Chance is located in Lucas County
- Le Roy
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Leslie
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Liberty
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Liberty is located in Clarke County
- Liberty Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Center
- Liberty Center is located in Warren County
- Lucas
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
How Far From Ottawa to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ottawa to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ottawa and extending to:
- Osceola, which is the Seat of Clarke County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Ottawa to Osceola, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 39 miles [62.8 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 887 miles [1,427.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,437 miles [10,359.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,185 miles [11,563.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,078 miles [8,172.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ottawa. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Clarke County: www.clarkecountyia.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Ottawa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ottawa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0300, Longitude: -93.5910 In this case, the coordinates for Ottawa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Ottawa 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 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. |
| <5> | 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 Ottawa to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.446 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.808 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.769 degrees. |