RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Clarke County >> Barker Land >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Barker Land, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Barker Land 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 Barker Land:
    • 39.073718, -77.889440
    • 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 Barker Land
  • 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 Clarke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarke County
    • Since Barker Land is near Loudoun County and also Fauquier County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fauquier 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 Barker Land

Curious and Interesting Names Near Barker Land ...

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.

  • Castlemans Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Castlemans Ferry is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castlemans Ferry
  • Fisher Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Fisher Hill is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Hill
  • Frogtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Frogtown is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogtown
  • Horse Shoe Curve
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Horse Shoe Curve is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Shoe Curve
  • Howardsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Howardsville is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardsville
  • Littletown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Littletown is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littletown
  • Lockes Landing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lockes Landing is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockes Landing
  • Longwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Longwood is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
  • Mountain Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Mountain Lake is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Lake
  • Murphys Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Murphys Corner is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphys Corner
  • Randolph Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Randolph Corner is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph Corner
  • River Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • River Park is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Park
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rock Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Rock Hill is located in Loudoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
    • Spout Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Spout Run is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spout Run
    • Top Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Top Hill is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Top Hill
    • Willow Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Willow Lake is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Lake

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Barker Land and extending to:

  • Berryville, which is the Seat of Clarke County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 108 miles [173.8 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Barker Land to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 47 miles [75.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,926 miles [9,537 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,634 miles [10,676.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,510 miles [7,258.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Barker Land) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Barker Land 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 Barker Land. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0737, Longitude: -77.8894       In this case, the coordinates for Barker Land have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.384 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.028 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.008 degrees.