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:
- 44.024978, -116.974140
- 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 Malheur County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Malheur County
- Since Ontario is near Payette County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Payette County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Oregon, the name Ontario is unique.
Beyond Oregon, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Michigan
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- 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.
- Annex
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Apple Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Valley
- Apple Valley is located in Canyon County (ID)
- Cairo
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Crystal
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Fruitland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
- Fruitland is located in Payette County (ID)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,568 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitland <4>
- Gayway Corner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gayway Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gayway Corner
- Gayway Corner is located in Payette County (ID)
- Home ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west) - Little Rock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- Little Rock is located in Gem County (ID)
- Rebecca
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
How Far From Ontario 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 city 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:
- Vale, which is the Seat of Malheur County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Ontario to Vale, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 304 miles [489.2 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,075 miles [3,339.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 81 days and walking would take 118 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,909 miles [11,119 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,677 miles [12,354.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,721 miles [9,207.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Ontario: www.ontariooregon.org/
The official website for Malheur County: www.malheurco.org/
The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line 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: 44.0250, Longitude: -116.9741 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 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 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'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 Ontario 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 336.263 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.84 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.592 degrees. |