Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in South Ottawa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Ottawa and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for South 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 South Ottawa:
- 41.331764, -88.837064
- 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 South 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 La Salle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- Since South Ottawa is near Livingston County and also Grundy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Livingston County
- eBird sighting report for Grundy 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 South 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.
- Deer Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Farm Ridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farm Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farm Ridge
- Farm Ridge is located in La Salle County
- Freedom Centre ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freedom Centre have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Centre
- Freedom Centre is located in La Salle County
- Grand Ridge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Ridge
- Grand Ridge is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Ridge <2>
- Little Rock ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- Little Rock is located in La Salle County
- Otter ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Reed Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reed Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Crossing
- Reed Crossing is located in La Salle County
- Richards
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Sandy Ford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ford
- Sandy Ford is located in La Salle County
- Stoneyville
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stoneyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoneyville
- Stoneyville is located in La Salle County
- Sulphur Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Sulphur Springs is located in La Salle County
How Far From South Ottawa 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 South Ottawa 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 South Ottawa once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in South Ottawa and extending to:
- Ottawa, which is the Seat of La Salle County, lies just to the North.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<4> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from South Ottawa to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 644 miles [1,036.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,253 miles [10,063.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,992 miles [11,252.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,877 miles [7,848.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for La Salle County: www.lasallecounty.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.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 South Ottawa, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- South Ottawa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in South Ottawa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3318, Longitude: -88.8371 |
| <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 South Ottawa 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 315.236 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.167 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.316 degrees. |