Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Otway, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Otway and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Otway
- 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 Otway:
- 38.865939, -83.188647
- 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 Otway
- 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 Scioto County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Scioto County
- Since Otway is near Adams County and also Pike County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Adams County
- eBird sighting report for Pike 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 Otway ...
We found three communities that share the name Otway.
Within Ohio, the name Otway is unique.
Beyond Ohio, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Otway lies 2,117 miles [3,407 km]<1> to the northwest of the Otway that is located in Scioto County.
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- British Columbia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Otway ...
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.
- Beaver Pond
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Pond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Pond
- Beaver Pond is located in Adams County
- Camp
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Crabtree
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Duke
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Hatch
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Jaybird
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaybird
- Jaybird is located in Adams County
- Jones Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jones Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Corner
- Jones Corner is located in Adams County
- Ladd
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Mineral Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Mineral Springs is located in Adams County
- Mount Joy
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Pink
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Rushtown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
How Far From Otway to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as Otway to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Otway and extending to:
- Portsmouth, which is the Seat of Scioto County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Otway to Portsmouth, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 77 miles [123.9 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 330 miles [531.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,153 miles [9,902.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,873 miles [11,061 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,748 miles [7,641.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Otway. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Scioto County: www.sciotocountyohio.com/
The official website for State of Ohio: https://ohio.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Otway) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Otway. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8659, Longitude: -83.1886 In this case, the coordinates for Otway 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Otway 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 Otway 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 311.608 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.67 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.382 degrees. |