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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Portland Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portland Junction and the surrounding area.
- 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 Portland Junction:
- 47.561374, -97.369257
- 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 Portland Junction
- 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 Traill County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Traill County
- Since Portland Junction is near Grand Forks County and also Steele County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Grand Forks County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Steele 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 Portland Junction
Curious and Interesting Names Near Portland Junction ...
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.
- Climax
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Climax is located in Polk County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
- Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
- Galesburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Greenfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Greenfield is located in Traill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Hope
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Hunter
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Mayville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Murray
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Murray is located in Traill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
- Roseville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Roseville is located in Traill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
How Far From Portland Junction 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 Portland Junction to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Portland Junction and extending to:
- Hillsboro, which is the Seat of Traill County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Portland Junction to Hillsboro, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Bismarck, which is the State Capital of North Dakota, lies 167 miles [268.8 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,179 miles [1,897.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,213 miles [9,998.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,976 miles [11,226.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,915 miles [7,909.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Portland Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Portland Junction to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portland Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.5614, Longitude: -97.3693 In this case, the coordinates for Portland Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.266 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.875 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.292 degrees. |
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