RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Charlotte County >> Aspen >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Aspen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Aspen 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 Aspen:
    • 37.040976, -78.826675
    • 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 Aspen
  • 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 Charlotte County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlotte County
    • Since Aspen is near Halifax County and also Campbell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Halifax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Campbell 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 Aspen

Communities Also Named Aspen ...

We found five communities that are also named Aspen.

Within Virginia, the name Aspen is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Pitkin County
      • This Aspen is located in Pitkin County and lies 1,522 miles [2,449.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Aspen that is located in Charlotte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pitkin County community of Aspen.
    • Maryland
      • Frederick County
      • This Aspen is located in Frederick County and lies 183 miles [294.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Aspen that is located in Charlotte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Frederick County community of Aspen.
    • North Carolina
      • Warren County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Aspen [Warren County].
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Aspen lies 1,039 miles [1,672.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Aspen that is located in Charlotte County.
    • Wyoming
      • Uinta County
      • This Aspen is located in Uinta County and lies 1,724 miles [2,774.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Aspen that is located in Charlotte County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Uinta County community of Aspen.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Aspen ...

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.

  • Cove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cove is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove
  • Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Crossroads is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Fears Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fears Corner is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fears Corner
  • Harrisburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Harrisburg is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Hat Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hat Creek is located in Campbell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hat Creek
  • Martins Store
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Martins Store is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Store
  • Patrick Henry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Patrick Henry is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patrick Henry
  • Providence
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Providence is located in Halifax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Rough Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rough Creek is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rough Creek
  • Sugar Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sugar Hill is located in Campbell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill
  • Terryville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Terryville is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Aspen and extending to:

  • Charlotte Court House, which is the Seat of Charlotte County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Aspen to Charlotte Court House, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 83 miles [133.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 161 miles [259.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,053 miles [9,741.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,755 miles [10,871.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,633 miles [7,456.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Aspen) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Aspen 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.
<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 Aspen 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 Aspen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0410, Longitude: -78.8267       In this case, the coordinates for Aspen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.026 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.451 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.125 degrees.