Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Roca, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Roca and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Roca
- 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 Roca:
- 40.658455, -96.661432
- 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 Roca
- 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 Roca is near Gage County and also Otoe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gage County
- eBird sighting report for Otoe 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 Roca ...
We found one communities that share the name Roca.
Within Nebraska, the name Roca is unique.
Beyond Nebraska, there is another community also named Roca in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Roca ...
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
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Centerville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Lancaster County
- Firth
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- 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 <3>
- Gaslight Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gaslight Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaslight Village
- Gaslight Village is located in Lancaster County
- Havelock
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havelock
- Havelock is located in Lancaster County
- Holland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
- Holland is located in Lancaster County
- Kramer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kramer
- Kramer is located in Lancaster County
- Lincoln
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- 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 <3>
- Panama
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panama
- Panama is located in Lancaster County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Panama <3>
- University Place
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Place have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 Roca 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 village such as Roca to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Roca and extending to:
- Lincoln, which is the Seat of Lancaster County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Roca to Lincoln, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 10 miles [16.1 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,046 miles [1,683.4 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 60 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,561 miles [10,558.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,313 miles [11,769.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,213 miles [8,389.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Roca. 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: www.nebraska.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 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 Roca 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> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Roca) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Roca. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6585, Longitude: -96.6614 In this case, the coordinates for Roca have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Roca 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 320.565 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.204 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.418 degrees. |