Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bernal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bernal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bernal
- 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 Bernal:
- 26.231462, -97.909166
- 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 Bernal
- 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- Since Bernal is near Cameron County and also Willacy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cameron County
- eBird sighting report for Willacy 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 Bernal ...
We found three communities that share the name Bernal.
Within Texas, the name Bernal is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Kansas
- New Mexico
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bernal ...
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.
- Alto Real
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Big John
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Bixby
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
- Bixby is located in Cameron County
- Catherine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Elizabeth
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - High Land
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Indian Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
- Matt
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Mercedes
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercedes
- Mercedes is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,598 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mercedes <4>
- Nancy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Rebecca
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Sunrise
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Sunrise Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Hill
- Sunrise Hill is located in Hidalgo County
- Sunrise Hill has also been known as:
- Sunrise Hill Colonia
- Windsong Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windsong Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Village
- Windsong Village is located in Cameron County
- Windsong Village has also been known as:
- Windsong Village Colonia
How Far From Bernal 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 Bernal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bernal and extending to:
- Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bernal to Edinburg, 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 278 miles [447.4 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,490 miles [2,397.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 85 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,373 miles [11,865.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,090 miles [13,019.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,965 miles [9,599.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bernal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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 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 Bernal 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bernal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bernal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.2315, Longitude: -97.9092 In this case, the coordinates for Bernal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bernal 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 319.621 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.275 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.64 degrees. |