Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Portage, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portage and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Portage
- 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 Portage:
- 42.201018, -85.589389
- 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 Portage
- 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 Kalamazoo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kalamazoo County
- Since Portage is near Saint Joseph County and also Van Buren County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Joseph County
- eBird sighting report for Van Buren 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 Portage ...
We found 22 communities that share the name Portage.
There is one other community in Michigan which is also named Portage.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 21 communities, nineteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Michigan ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alaska
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Hamilton County
- This Portage is located in Hamilton County and lies 156 miles [251.1 km]<2> to the south of the Portage that is located in Kalamazoo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Portage.
- Porter County
- This Portage is located in Porter County and lies 92 miles [148.1 km] to the west southwest of the Portage that is located in Kalamazoo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Porter County community of Portage.
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Brunswick
- New York
- Livingston County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Portage [Livingston County].
- Wyoming County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Portage [Wyoming County].
- Nova Scotia
- This Portage lies 1,274 miles [2,050.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Portage that is located in Kalamazoo County.
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Prince Edward Island
- This Portage lies 1,101 miles [1,771.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Portage that is located in Kalamazoo County.
- Utah
- Washington
- King County
- This Portage is located in King County and lies 1,822 miles [2,932.2 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Portage that is located in Kalamazoo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the King County community of Portage.
- Skagit County
- This Portage is located in Skagit County and lies 1,773 miles [2,853.4 km] to the west northwest of the Portage that is located in Kalamazoo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Skagit County community of Portage.
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Portage ...
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.
- Comstock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Cooks Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mill
- Cooks Mill is located in Kalamazoo County
- Flowerfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flowerfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowerfield
- Flowerfield is located in Saint Joseph County
- Lawndale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Lemon Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lemon Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemon Park
- Lemon Park is located in Kalamazoo County
- Parchment
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parchment have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parchment
- Parchment is located in Kalamazoo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,825 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parchment <4>
- Pavilion
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Pavillion Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
- Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
- Schoolcraft
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schoolcraft
- Schoolcraft is located in Kalamazoo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,548 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Schoolcraft <4>
- Texas Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Texas Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas Corners
- Texas Corners is located in Kalamazoo County
How Far From Portage 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 Portage to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Portage and extending to:
- Kalamazoo, which is the Seat of Kalamazoo County, lies just to the North.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 64 miles [103 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Portage to Lansing, 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 503 miles [809.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,091 miles [9,802.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,827 miles [10,987 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,708 miles [7,576.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Portage: www.portagemi.com/
The official website for Kalamazoo County: www.kalcounty.com/
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Portage 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Portage) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portage. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2010, Longitude: -85.5894 |
| <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 Portage 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 313.083 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.838 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.461 degrees. |