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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Botetourt East, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Botetourt East 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 Botetourt East:
    • 37.341525, -79.884205
    • 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 Botetourt East
  • 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 Botetourt County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Botetourt County
    • Since Botetourt East is near Roanoke County and also Roanoke City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke 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 Botetourt East

Curious and Interesting Names Near Botetourt East ...

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.

  • Bluestone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bluestone is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluestone
  • Bowling Green
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Bowling Green is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowling Green
  • Cloverdale
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Colonial Trail
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Colonial Trail is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Trail
  • Falling Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Falling Creek is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Creek
  • Greenfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Greenfield is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
  • Heatherstone
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Heatherstone is located in Botetourt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heatherstone
  • Hedgelawn Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hedgelawn Gardens is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedgelawn Gardens
  • Hickory Woods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hickory Woods is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Woods
  • Huntridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Huntridge is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntridge
  • Laymantown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Laymantown is located in Botetourt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laymantown
  • Meadowview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Meadowview is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Mountain View
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Mountain View is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
    • Muse
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Muse is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muse
    • Peachtree
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Peachtree is located in Botetourt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peachtree
    • Rainbow Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Rainbow Forest is located in Botetourt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Forest
    • Rockydale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rockydale is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockydale
    • Runaway Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Runaway Village is located in Botetourt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runaway Village
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Springtree
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Springtree is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springtree
    • Stepping Stone
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Stepping Stone is located in Botetourt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stepping Stone
    • Sun Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Sun Valley is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
    • Sunnybrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Sunnybrook is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybrook
    • Sunrise Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sunrise Heights is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Heights
    • Vista Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Vista Heights is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista Heights
    • Waterfall Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Waterfall Lake is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterfall Lake

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

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

  • Fincastle, which is the Seat of Botetourt County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Botetourt East to Fincastle, 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 134 miles [215.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 188 miles [302.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,085 miles [9,792.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,791 miles [10,929.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,668 miles [7,512.4 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 '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- Botetourt East) 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 Botetourt East 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 Botetourt East. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3415, Longitude: -79.8842       In this case, the coordinates for Botetourt East have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.637 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.194 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.455 degrees.