RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Fairfax County >> Accotink Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Accotink Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Accotink Heights 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 Accotink Heights:
    • 38.835390, -77.212760
    • 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 Accotink Heights
  • 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 Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Accotink Heights is near Falls Church City and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington 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 Accotink Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Accotink Heights ...

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.

  • Alpine
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Alpine is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Camelot
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Camelot is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cedar Crest
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Chestnut Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Doveville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Doveville is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doveville
  • Falls Church
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Falls Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Falls Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Hill
  • Greenway Downs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
  • Hillbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hillbrook is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillbrook
  • Holly Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Holly Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Park
  • Homewood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Homewood is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
  • Hunts Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hunts Village is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Village
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Indian Run Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Indian Run Park is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Run Park
    • Indian Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Indian Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
    • Kings Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Kings Park is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
    • Lee Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Lee Forest is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Forest
    • Lee Meadows
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Lee Meadows is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Meadows
    • Mount Pleasant
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Pine Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Pine Spring
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Pine Spring is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Spring
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Pleasant Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
    • Poplar Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Poplar Heights is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Heights
    • Ravenwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ravenwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Red Fox Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Red Fox Forest is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Fox Forest
    • Seven Corners
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Valley Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Valley Brook is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Brook
    • Virginia Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
    • Walters Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Walters Woods is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters Woods
    • Willow Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Run is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run
    • Willow Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Willow Woods is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Woods

How Far From Accotink Heights to ...

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 90 miles [144.8 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Accotink Heights to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 10 miles [16.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,908 miles [9,508 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,613 miles [10,642.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,490 miles [7,226 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 from Point A (ie- Accotink Heights) 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 Accotink Heights 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 Accotink Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8354, Longitude: -77.2128       In this case, the coordinates for Accotink Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.997 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.551 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.812 degrees.