Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cortland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cortland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cortland
- 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 Cortland:
- 40.505927, -96.706100
- 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 Cortland
- 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 Gage County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Gage County
- Since Cortland is near Lancaster County and also Saline County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lancaster County
- eBird sighting report for Saline 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 Cortland ...
We found six communities that share the name Cortland.
Within Nebraska, the name Cortland is unique.
Beyond Nebraska, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Indiana
- New York
- Ohio
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cortland ...
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.
- Centerville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Lancaster County
- Crab Orchard
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crab Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Orchard
- Crab Orchard is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crab Orchard <4>
- Crete
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crete
- Crete is located in Saline County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,875 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crete <4>
- Firth
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firth
- Firth is located in Lancaster County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 619 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Firth <4>
- Holland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
- Holland is located in Lancaster County
- Kramer
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kramer
- Kramer is located in Lancaster County
- Panama
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panama
- Panama is located in Lancaster County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Panama <4>
- Pleasant Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Saline County
- Plymouth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plymouth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
- Plymouth is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 379 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plymouth <4>
- Yankee Hill ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill
- Yankee Hill is located in Lancaster County
How Far From Cortland 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 village such as Cortland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Cortland and extending to:
- Beatrice, which is the Seat of Gage County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Cortland to Beatrice, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 21 miles [33.8 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,048 miles [1,686.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 60 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,570 miles [10,573.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,322 miles [11,783.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,222 miles [8,404 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Cortland. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Gage County: www.co.gage.ne.us/
The official website for State of Nebraska: www.nebraska.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Cortland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cortland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5059, Longitude: -96.7061 In this case, the coordinates for Cortland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Cortland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Cortland 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 320.588 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.211 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.469 degrees. |