Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Portal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Portal
- 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:
- 41.176388, -96.080850
- 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 Portal
- 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 Sarpy County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Sarpy County
- Since Portal is near Douglas County and also Cass County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- eBird sighting report for Cass 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 Portal ...
We found five communities that share the name Portal.
Within Nebraska, the name Portal is unique.
Beyond Nebraska, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Montana
- North Dakota
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Portal ...
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.
- Boys Town
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boys Town
- Boys Town is located in Douglas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 328 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boys Town <3>
- Cedar Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
- Cedar Creek is located in Cass County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 409 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Creek <3>
- Elkhorn
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhorn have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Elkhorn is located in Douglas County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhorn <3>
- Fort Crook
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Crook have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Crook
- Fort Crook is located in Sarpy County
- Green Meadows
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadows
- Green Meadows is located in Douglas County
- Lane
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Meadow
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Paradise Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paradise Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
- Paradise Park is located in Sarpy County
- Skyline
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Portal 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 community such as Portal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Portal and extending to:
- Papillion, which is the Seat of Sarpy County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Portal to Lincoln, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,016 miles [1,635.1 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 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,514 miles [10,483.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,266 miles [11,693.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,167 miles [8,315.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Portal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Sarpy County: www.sarpy.com/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Portal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1764, Longitude: -96.0808 In this case, the coordinates for Portal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Portal 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Portal 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 320.184 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.829 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.017 degrees. |