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:
- 38.608541, -95.268689
- 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- Since Ottawa is near Douglas County and also Miami County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- eBird sighting report for Miami 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 Kansas which is also named Ottawa.
Beyond Kansas, 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 Kansas ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Clarke County
- This Ottawa is located in Clarke County and lies 189 miles [304.2 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Ottawa that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarke County community of Ottawa.
- Polk County
- This Ottawa is located in Polk County and lies 208 miles [334.7 km] to the north northeast of the Ottawa that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Ottawa.
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Monroe County
- This Ottawa is located in Monroe County and lies 656 miles [1,055.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Ottawa that is located in Franklin 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.<1> 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 1,104 miles [1,776.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Ottawa that is located in Franklin 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.
- Black Jack ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Jack have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack
- Black Jack is located in Douglas County
- Globe
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
- Globe is located in Douglas County
- Homewood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
- Homewood is located in Franklin County
- Lane
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Lane is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Lane has also been known as:
- Lane City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <4>
- Lone Star
(18 miles [29 km] to the north) - Michigan Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigan Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Valley
- Michigan Valley is located in Osage County
- Pleasant Grove
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Douglas County
- Ransomville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransomville
- Ransomville is located in Franklin County
- Silkville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Ottawa 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 city 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:
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Ottawa to Topeka, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 980 miles [1,577.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 56 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,622 miles [10,657.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,367 miles [11,856 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,256 miles [8,458.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Ottawa: www.ottawakansas.net/
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.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 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. |
| <2> | 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- 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: 38.6085, Longitude: -95.2687 |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 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 319.472 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.678 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.092 degrees. |