RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Goochland County >> Amber Lake >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Amber Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Amber Lake 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 Amber Lake:
    • 37.662368, -77.773327
    • 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 Amber Lake
  • 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 Goochland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Goochland County
    • Since Amber Lake is near Powhatan County and also Hanover County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Powhatan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hanover 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 Amber Lake

Curious and Interesting Names Near Amber Lake ...

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.

  • Centerville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Centerville is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Dover Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dover Run is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover Run
  • Fords
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fords is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords
  • Fox Downs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Fox Downs is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Downs
  • Goosepoint
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Goosepoint is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goosepoint
  • Hillcrest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hillcrest is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Horsepen Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Horsepen Hills is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsepen Hills
  • Hunters Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunters Woods is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Woods
  • Lee
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lee is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
  • Oilville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Pleasant Green
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Green is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Green
  • Smokey Hollow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Smokey Hollow is located in Goochland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smokey Hollow
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Strawberry Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Strawberry Run is located in Goochland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Run
    • Sycamore Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Sycamore Creek is located in Goochland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Creek
    • Timber Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Timber Ridge is located in Goochland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
    • Wheatlands
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Wheatlands is located in Goochland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatlands
    • Windy Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Windy Run is located in Goochland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy Run

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

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

  • Goochland, which is the Seat of Goochland County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Amber Lake to Richmond, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 94 miles [151.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,981 miles [9,625.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,683 miles [10,755.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,561 miles [7,340.2 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Amber Lake) 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 Amber Lake 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 Amber Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6624, Longitude: -77.7733       In this case, the coordinates for Amber Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.388 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.818 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.48 degrees.