Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ontario, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ontario and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ontario
- 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 Ontario:
- 41.078648, -90.307626
- 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 Ontario
- 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 Knox County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Knox County
- Since Ontario is near Henry County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Henry County
- eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Ontario ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Ontario.
Within Illinois, the name Ontario is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Michigan
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ontario ...
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.
- Alexis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexis
- Alexis is located in Mercer County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 778 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alexis <3>
- Alpha
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpha have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
- Alpha is located in Henry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 626 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpha <3>
- Centerville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Knox County
- Coldbrook
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Galesburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galesburg
- Galesburg is located in Knox County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 29,803 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Galesburg <3>
- Griffin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Lynn Center
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lynn Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Center
- Lynn Center is located in Henry County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lynn Center <3>
- Oak Run
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Shanghai City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shanghai City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai City
- Shanghai City is located in Warren County
- Utah
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Ontario 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 community such as Ontario to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ontario and extending to:
- Galesburg, which is the Seat of Knox County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ontario to Galesburg, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 95 miles [152.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 717 miles [1,153.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,319 miles [10,169.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,060 miles [11,362 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,947 miles [7,961.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ontario. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.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 from Point A (ie- Ontario) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ontario. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0786, Longitude: -90.3076 In this case, the coordinates for Ontario 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 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 Ontario 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Ontario 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 316.216 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.254 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.109 degrees. |