Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Portage, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portage and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Portage
- 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 Portage:
- 48.584010, -121.390405
- 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 Portage
- 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 Skagit County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Skagit County
- Since Portage is near Whatcom County and also Snohomish County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Whatcom County
- eBird sighting report for Snohomish 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 Portage ...
We found 22 communities that share the name Portage.
There is one other community in Washington which is also named Portage.
Beyond Washington, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 21 communities, nineteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Washington ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alaska
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Hamilton County
- This Portage is located in Hamilton County and lies 1,832 miles [2,948.3 km]<1> to the east of the Portage that is located in Skagit County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Portage.
- Porter County
- This Portage is located in Porter County and lies 1,720 miles [2,768.1 km] to the east of the Portage that is located in Skagit County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Porter County community of Portage.
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Delta 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 Michigan community of Portage [Delta County].
- Kalamazoo County
- This Portage is located in Kalamazoo County and lies 1,773 miles [2,853.4 km]<1> to the east of the Portage that is located in Skagit County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kalamazoo County community of Portage.
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Brunswick
- New York
- Livingston 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 New York community of Portage [Livingston County].
- Wyoming 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 New York community of Portage [Wyoming County].
- Nova Scotia
- This Portage lies 2,786 miles [4,483.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Portage that is located in Skagit County.
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Prince Edward Island
- This Portage lies 2,607 miles [4,195.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Portage that is located in Skagit County.
- Utah
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Portage ...
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.
- Birdsview
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west) - Concrete
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concrete
- Concrete is located in Skagit County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 743 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Concrete <4>
- Corkindale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corkindale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corkindale
- Corkindale is located in Skagit County
- Diablo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Marblemount
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marblemount
- Marblemount is located in Skagit County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marblemount <4>
- Rockport
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport
- Rockport is located in Skagit County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockport <4>
- Ruby ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast) - Swede Heaven
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swede Heaven
- Swede Heaven is located in Snohomish County
- White Horse
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Horse have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Horse
- White Horse is located in Snohomish County
How Far From Portage 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 Portage to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Portage and extending to:
- Mount Vernon, which is the Seat of Skagit County, lies 44 miles [70.8 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Portage to Mount Vernon, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 127 miles [204.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,276 miles [3,662.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 89 days and walking would take 130 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,695 miles [10,774.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,457 miles [12,000.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,579 miles [8,978.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Portage. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Skagit County: www.skagitcounty.net/
The official website for State of Washington: https://wa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Portage) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portage. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.5840, Longitude: -121.3904 In this case, the coordinates for Portage 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Portage 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> | 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 Portage 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 340.137 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 341.628 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.058 degrees. |