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:
- 37.361749, -84.456050
- 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 Rockcastle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Rockcastle County
- Since Ottawa is near Lincoln County and also Pulaski County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
- eBird sighting report for Pulaski 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.
Within Kentucky, the name Ottawa is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Clarke County
- This Ottawa is located in Clarke County and lies 550 miles [885.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ottawa that is located in Rockcastle 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 554 miles [891.6 km] to the west northwest of the Ottawa that is located in Rockcastle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Ottawa.
- 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 594 miles [956 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ottawa that is located in Rockcastle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Ottawa.
- Michigan
- Monroe County
- This Ottawa is located in Monroe County and lies 308 miles [495.7 km]<1> to the north of the Ottawa that is located in Rockcastle 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 717 miles [1,153.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Ottawa that is located in Rockcastle 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.
- Bee Lick
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Clarence
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Crab Orchard
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crab Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Orchard
- Crab Orchard is located in Lincoln County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crab Orchard <4>
- Dog Walk
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Gum Sulphur
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gum Sulphur have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Sulphur
- Gum Sulphur is located in Rockcastle County
- Level Green
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Level Green have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Green
- Level Green is located in Rockcastle County
- Quail
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Randy
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Sand Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Springs
- Sand Springs is located in Rockcastle County
- Turkeytown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkeytown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Turkeytown is located in Lincoln County
- Walnut Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Pulaski County
How Far From 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 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:
- Mount Vernon, which is the Seat of Rockcastle County, lies just to the East.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from Ottawa to Frankfort, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 416 miles [669.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,274 miles [10,097 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,991 miles [11,250.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,866 miles [7,831.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
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 State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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: 37.3617, Longitude: -84.4561 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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'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 312.391 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.348 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.378 degrees. |