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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Barcroft Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Barcroft 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 Barcroft Hill:
    • 38.840668, -77.170258
    • 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 Barcroft 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 Barcroft Hill is near Arlington County and also Alexandria City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexandria City
  • 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 Barcroft Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Barcroft 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.

  • Alpine
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Alpine is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Cedar Crest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Dominion Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dominion Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
  • Falls Church
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Glen Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Forest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
  • Greenway Downs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
  • Hillbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hillbrook is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillbrook
  • Indian Run Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Indian Run Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Run Park
  • Indian Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Indian Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Mount Pleasant
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Pine Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Spring is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Spring
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Ravenwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Ravenwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Seven Corners
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Valley Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Valley Brook is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Brook
    • Virginia Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Virginia Heights is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Heights
    • Walters Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Walters Woods is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters Woods
    • Willow Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Willow Run is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run

How Far From Barcroft 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 Barcroft 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 Barcroft Hill 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 Barcroft 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 most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is just to the east northeast (ENE).
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,905 miles [9,503.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,611 miles [10,639.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,488 miles [7,222.7 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Barcroft 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 Barcroft 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 Barcroft Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8407, Longitude: -77.1703       In this case, the coordinates for Barcroft Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.972 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.523 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.792 degrees.