RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Winnebago County >> Panorama Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Panorama Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Panorama Valley 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 Panorama Valley:
    • 42.234743, -88.993992
    • 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 Panorama Valley
  • 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 Winnebago County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Winnebago County
    • Since Panorama Valley is near Boone County and also Ogle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Boone County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ogle 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 Panorama Valley

Curious and Interesting Names Near Panorama Valley ...

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.

  • Cherry Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Cheyenne Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cheyenne Heights is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheyenne Heights
  • Coreys Bluff
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Coreys Bluff is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coreys Bluff
  • Coventry Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Coventry Creek is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry Creek
  • Harlem
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Harlem is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlem
  • Indian Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Indian Village is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
  • Irene
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Irene is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
  • Jonesville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jonesville is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
  • Loves Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Motor Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Motor Heights is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motor Heights
  • Prairie View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Prairie View is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
  • Ruby
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Ruby is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
  • Silver Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Silver Hills is located in Winnebago County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Hills

How Far From Panorama Valley to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Panorama Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Rockford, which is the Seat of Winnebago County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 172 miles [276.8 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Panorama Valley to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 667 miles [1,073.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,214 miles [10,000.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,956 miles [11,194.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,843 miles [7,794.1 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Panorama Valley) 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 Panorama Valley 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 Panorama Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2347, Longitude: -88.9940       In this case, the coordinates for Panorama Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.344 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.417 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.145 degrees.