1 : An obstacle detecting apparatus for detecting whether there is an obstacle within a range shot through the use of at least one image pick-up device, said obstacle detecting apparatus comprising: image input means for receiving an image inputted from said image pick-up device; feature calculating means for calculating a predetermined, specific feature quantity in said input image; indicator calculating means for finding a distribution of said feature quantity, and for calculating an indicator indicating a presence or absence of an obstacle by use of said found distribution; and result judging means for judging one of the presence and absence of an obstacle based on said calculated indicator.