RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Loudoun County >> Burns Crossroads >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Burns Crossroads, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Burns Crossroads 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 Burns Crossroads:
    • 38.909556, -77.544435
    • 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 Burns Crossroads
  • 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 Loudoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun County
    • Since Burns Crossroads is near Prince William County and also Fairfax County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax 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 Burns Crossroads

Curious and Interesting Names Near Burns Crossroads ...

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.

  • Butler
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Butler is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
  • Crescent
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Crescent is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
  • Evergreen Farms
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Evergreen Farms is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Farms
  • Evergreen Mills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Evergreen Mills is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Mills
  • German
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • German is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German
  • Gilberts Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gilberts Corner is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilberts Corner
  • Hickory Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hickory Grove is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Landmark
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Landmark is located in Fauquier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landmark
  • Lees Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Lees Corner is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Corner
  • London Towne
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • London Towne is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London Towne
  • Royville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Royville is located in Loudoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royville
  • Snow Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Snow Hill is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Stoke
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Stoke is located in Loudoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoke
    • Uniontown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Uniontown is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
    • Waterfall
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Waterfall is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterfall
    • Waterfall Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Waterfall Village is located in Prince William County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterfall Village

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

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

  • Leesburg, which is the Seat of Loudoun County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Burns Crossroads to Leesburg, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 94 miles [151.3 km] to the south (S). 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 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 27 miles [43.5 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,918 miles [9,524.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,625 miles [10,661.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,501 miles [7,243.7 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Burns Crossroads) 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 Burns Crossroads 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 Burns Crossroads. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9096, Longitude: -77.5444       In this case, the coordinates for Burns Crossroads have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.189 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.781 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.923 degrees.