Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Panama, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Panama and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Panama
- 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 Panama:
- 40.597784, -96.511175
- 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 Panama
- 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 Lancaster County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lancaster County
- Since Panama is near Otoe County and also Gage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Otoe County
- eBird sighting report for Gage 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 Panama ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Panama.
Within Nebraska, the name Panama is unique.
Beyond Nebraska, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New York
- Oklahoma
Curious and Interesting Names Near Panama ...
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.
- Bethany
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north) - Burr
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burr have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr
- Burr is located in Otoe County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burr <4>
- Centerville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Lancaster County
- Crab Orchard
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crab Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Orchard
- Crab Orchard is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crab Orchard <4>
- Eagle
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
- Eagle is located in Cass County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,105 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle <4>
- Firth
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firth
- Firth is located in Lancaster County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 619 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Firth <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Firth
- From Panama to Firth
- Havelock
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havelock
- Havelock is located in Lancaster County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Havelock
- From Panama to Havelock
- Helena ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast) - Holland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
- Holland is located in Lancaster County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Holland
- From Panama to Holland
- Lincoln
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Lincoln is located in Lancaster County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 290,505 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lincoln <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Lincoln
- From Panama to Lincoln
- Prairie Home
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Home
- Prairie Home is located in Lancaster County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Prairie Home
- From Panama to Prairie Home
- University Place
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Place
- University Place is located in Lancaster County
- Yankee Hill ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill
- Yankee Hill is located in Lancaster County
How Far From Panama 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 village such as Panama to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Panama and extending to:
- Lincoln, which is the Seat of Lancaster County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Panama to Lincoln, 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.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 17 miles [27.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,038 miles [1,670.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,559 miles [10,555.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,311 miles [11,765.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,210 miles [8,384.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Panama. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Lancaster County: www.lancaster.ne.gov/
The official website for State of Nebraska: https://www.nebraska.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Panama) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Panama. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5978, Longitude: -96.5112 |
| <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 Panama 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 Panama 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 320.456 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.07 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.352 degrees. |