Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Surprise, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Surprise and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Surprise
- 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 Surprise:
- 41.105018, -97.310983
- 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 Surprise
- 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 Butler County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Butler County
- Since Surprise is near York County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for York County
- eBird sighting report for Polk 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 Surprise ...
We found ten communities that share the name Surprise.
Within Nebraska, the name Surprise is unique.
Beyond Nebraska, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- British Columbia
- This Surprise lies 1,998 miles [3,215.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Surprise that is located in Butler County.
- California
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Grant County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Surprise [Grant County].
- Hamilton 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 Kansas community of Surprise [Hamilton County].
- New York
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Surprise ...
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.
- Beaver Crossing
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Crossing
- Beaver Crossing is located in Seward County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beaver Crossing <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Beaver Crossing
- From Surprise to Beaver Crossing
- Columbus
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Columbus is located in Platte County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,597 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Columbus <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Columbus
- From Surprise to Columbus
- David City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for David City
- David City is located in Butler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,833 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for David City <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to David City
- From Surprise to David City
- Dwight
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
- Dwight is located in Butler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 190 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dwight <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Dwight
- From Surprise to Dwight
- Mapps
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest) - Marysville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marysville have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marysville
- Marysville is located in Seward County
- Rising City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising City
- Rising City is located in Butler County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rising City <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Rising City
- From Surprise to Rising City
- Ruby
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ruby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
- Ruby is located in Seward County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Ruby
- From Surprise to Ruby
- Silver Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Silver Creek is located in Merrick County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 359 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Creek <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Silver Creek
- From Surprise to Silver Creek
- Swedehome
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedehome
- Swedehome is located in Polk County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Swedehome
- From Surprise to Swedehome
- Waco
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
- Waco is located in York County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waco <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Waco
- From Surprise to Waco
How Far From Surprise 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 Surprise to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Surprise and extending to:
- David City, which is the Seat of Butler County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Surprise to David City, with an average speed<7> 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 four to five hours.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 37 miles [59.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,080 miles [1,738.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 43 days and walking would take 62 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,558 miles [10,554.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,312 miles [11,767.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,217 miles [8,395.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Surprise. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Butler County: www.co.butler.ne.us/
The official website for State of Nebraska: https://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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Surprise) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Surprise. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1050, Longitude: -97.3110 |
| <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 Surprise 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> | 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 Surprise, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Surprise to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.048 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.818 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.672 degrees. |