RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Bayfield County >> Port Wing >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Port Wing, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Port Wing and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Port Wing:
    • 46.774657, -91.386574
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Port Wing
  • 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 Bayfield County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bayfield County
    • Since Port Wing is near Douglas County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Port Wing

Curious and Interesting Names Near Port Wing ...

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.

  • Blueberry
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Blueberry is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blueberry
  • Cloverland
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Cloverland is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverland
  • Cornucopia
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Cornucopia is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornucopia
  • Delta
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Delta is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
  • Iron River
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Iron River is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron River
  • Knife River
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Maple
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple
  • Pike River
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Pike River is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike River
  • Topside
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Topside is located in Bayfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topside
  • Two Harbors
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)

How Far From Port Wing 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 Port Wing to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Port Wing and extending to:

  • Washburn, which is the Seat of Bayfield County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Port Wing to Washburn, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 273 miles [439.4 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 905 miles [1,456.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,070 miles [9,768.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,825 miles [10,983.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,737 miles [7,623.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Port Wing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Port Wing to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Port Wing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.7747, Longitude: -91.3866       In this case, the coordinates for Port Wing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.943 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.867 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.092 degrees.