Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Portal Inn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portal Inn and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Portal Inn

• 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 Portal Inn:
  • 40.735706, -122.319451
  • 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.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Portal Inn

• 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 Shasta County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Shasta County
  • Since Portal Inn is near Trinity County and also Tehama County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Trinity County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Tehama 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Portal Inn

Curious and Interesting Names Near Portal Inn ...

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.

• Bonita ‑ Historic
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Bonita is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonita
• Buckeye
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Buckeye is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
• Bully Hill ‑ Historic
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bully Hill is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bully Hill
• Churntown ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Churntown is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churntown
  • Former name for Churntown:
  • One Wagon Town
• Copper City ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Copper City is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper City
• Elizabethtown ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Elizabethtown is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
• Mabel ‑ Historic
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Mabel is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
• Mountain Gate
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Mountain Gate is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Gate
  • Former names for Mountain Gate:
  • Bass
  • Fish's Station
• Project City ‑ Historic
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Project City is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Project City
• Summit City ‑ Historic
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Summit City is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit City
• Tunnel Inn
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Tunnel Inn is located in Shasta County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnel Inn

How Far From Portal Inn 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 community such as Portal Inn to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Portal Inn and extending to:

• Redding, which is the Seat of Shasta County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Portal Inn to Redding, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
• Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 155 miles [249.4 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,378 miles [3,827 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 136 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,221 miles [11,621.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,986 miles [12,852.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,061 miles [9,754.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>'