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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Balls Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balls Hill 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 Balls Hill:
    • 38.941222, -77.194147
    • 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 Balls Hill
  • 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 Balls Hill is near Montgomery County and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • 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 Balls Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Balls Hill ...

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.

  • Cabin John
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cabin John Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cabin John Park is located in Montgomery County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin John Park
  • Cinnamon Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cinnamon Creek is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinnamon Creek
  • Crescent Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Crescent Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
  • Enola
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Enola is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enola
  • Falls Church
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Falls Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Falls Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Hill
  • Four Corners
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Four Corners is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Foxhall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Foxhall is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhall
  • Franklin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Franklin is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Garden City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden City is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Glen Echo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Greenway Downs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
    • Halls Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Halls Hill is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Hill
    • High Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • High Point is located in Montgomery County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • Holly Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Holly Hill is located in Montgomery County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hill
    • Howard
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Howard is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
    • Kent Gardens
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Kent Gardens is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
    • Lee Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Lee Heights is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Heights
    • Mohican Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Mohican Hills is located in Montgomery County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohican Hills
    • Peacock
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Peacock is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock
    • Poplar Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Poplar Heights is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Heights
    • Sun Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Sun Valley is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
    • Swinks Mill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Swinks Mill is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swinks Mill
    • Tulip Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Tulip Hill is located in Montgomery County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulip Hill
    • Virginia Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
    • Wolf Trap
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Wolf Trap is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Trap

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 97 miles [156.1 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Balls Hill 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 three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is just to the east southeast (ESE).
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,902 miles [9,498.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,608 miles [10,634.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,485 miles [7,217.9 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Balls Hill) 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 Balls Hill 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 Balls Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9412, Longitude: -77.1941       In this case, the coordinates for Balls Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.98 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.548 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.764 degrees.