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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alcova Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alcova 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 Alcova Heights:
    • 38.864557, -77.097201
    • 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 Alcova 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 Arlington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington County
    • Since Alcova Heights is near Alexandria City and also Fairfax County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexandria City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax 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 Alcova Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alcova 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.

  • Brad Lee
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Brad Lee is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brad Lee
  • Chapel Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Cherrydale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cherrydale is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrydale
  • Clover
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Clover is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover
  • College Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • College Park is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Colonial Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Colonial Village is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
  • Crescent Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Crescent Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
  • Delta
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Delta is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
  • Dominion Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Dominion Heights is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Heights
  • Dominion Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Dominion Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
  • Dover
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Dover is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
  • Duke Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Duke Gardens is located in Alexandria City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke Gardens
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Garden City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Garden City is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
    • Glen Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Glen Forest is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
    • Green Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Green Valley is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
    • Halls Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Halls Hill is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Hill
    • Lacey Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Lacey Forest is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey Forest
    • Lee Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Lee Heights is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Heights
    • Lyon Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Lyon Park is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Park
    • Lyon Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Lyon Village is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Village
    • Piney Court
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Piney Court is located in Alexandria City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Court
    • Ravenwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Ravenwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Riverwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Riverwood is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
    • Seminary Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Seminary Valley is located in Alexandria City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Valley
    • Seven Corners
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Varsity Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Varsity Park is located in Alexandria City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varsity Park
    • Virginia Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Virginia Heights is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Heights
    • Virginia Highlands
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Virginia Highlands is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Highlands
    • Walters Woods
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Walters Woods is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters Woods

How Far From Alcova Heights 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 Alcova 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 Alcova Heights and extending to:

  • Arlington, which is the Seat of Arlington County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Alcova 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 just to the northeast (NE).
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,901 miles [9,496.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,606 miles [10,631.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,483 miles [7,214.7 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' (or 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- Alcova 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 Alcova 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 Alcova Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8646, Longitude: -77.0972       In this case, the coordinates for Alcova Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.927 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.476 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.752 degrees.