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:
- 41.702273, -85.382479
- 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 LaGrange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for LaGrange County
- Since Ontario is near Saint Joseph County and also Steuben County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Joseph County
- eBird sighting report for Steuben 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 Indiana, the name Ontario is unique.
Beyond Indiana, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Illinois
- 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.
- Breezy Beach
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breezy Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breezy Beach
- Breezy Beach is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Emma
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Fawn River
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawn River
- Fawn River is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Greenfield Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Mills
- Greenfield Mills is located in LaGrange County
- Klingers
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Plato
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato
- Plato is located in LaGrange County
- Sandy Beach
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Beach
- Sandy Beach is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Star Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Twin Lakes
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
- Twin Lakes is located in LaGrange County
- Valentine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine
- Valentine is located in LaGrange County
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:
- LaGrange, which is the Seat of LaGrange County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Ontario to Indianapolis, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 480 miles [772.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,107 miles [9,828.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,841 miles [11,009.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,721 miles [7,597.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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 LaGrange County: www.lagrangecounty.org/
The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn 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: 41.7023, Longitude: -85.3825 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> | 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 Ontario 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 312.959 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.623 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.518 degrees. |