RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
Quarter for
South Dakota

The Commemorative Quarter for South Dakota





Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Plana:
    • 45.519135, -98.309263
    • 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 Plana
  • 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

Curious and Interesting Names Near Plana ...

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.

  • Bath
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Craven
    (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven
    • Craven is located in Edmunds County
  • Craven Corner
    (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven Corner
    • Craven Corner is located in Edmunds County
  • Frederick
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Frisby ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frisby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisby
    • Frisby is located in Clark County
  • James
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for James. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
    • James is located in Brown County
  • Randolph
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Randolph. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
    • Randolph is located in Brown County
  • Rudolph
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rudolph have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudolph
    • Rudolph is located in Brown County
  • Spain
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spain
    • Spain is located in Marshall County
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 989 people

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Plana and extending to:

  • Aberdeen, which is the Seat of Brown County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<4> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Plana to Aberdeen, 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.
  • Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 126 miles [202.8 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 1,175 miles [1,891 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,351 miles [10,220.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,112 miles [11,445.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,043 miles [8,115.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plana. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Brown County: www.brown.sd.us/

The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.gov/

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>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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 from Point A (ie- Plana) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.5191, Longitude: -98.3093       In this case, the coordinates for Plana 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 Plana 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 321.935 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 320.384 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.316 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025