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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Colchester Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Colchester Acres and the surrounding area.
- 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 Colchester Acres:
- 38.813447, -77.372764
- 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 Colchester Acres
- 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 Colchester Acres is near Fairfax City and also Prince William County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax City
- Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William 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 Colchester Acres
Curious and Interesting Names Near Colchester Acres ...
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.
- Blue Oaks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Blue Oaks is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Oaks
- Butts Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Butts Corner is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butts Corner
- Crystal Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Crystal Springs is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
- Donovans Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Donovans Corner is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donovans Corner
- Fair Oaks
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Fair Oaks is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
- Green Acres
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Green Acres is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Holly Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Holly Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Park
- Joyce Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Joyce Heights is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyce Heights
- Lee-Hi Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lee-Hi Village is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee-Hi Village
- Lewis Park
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Lewis Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Park
- Lincoln Park
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Lincoln Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
- London Towne
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- London Towne is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London Towne
- Continue List (9 more) ...
- Maple Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Maple Hills is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hills
- Orchard Bridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Orchard Bridge is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Bridge
- Random Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Random Hills is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Random Hills
- Sideburn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Sideburn is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sideburn
- Station Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Station Hills is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Station Hills
- Uniontown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Uniontown is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Willow Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Willow Springs is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs
- Yorkshire
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Yorkshire is located in Prince William County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire
- Yorkshire Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Yorkshire Village is located in Prince William County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire Village
How Far From Colchester Acres 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 Colchester Acres to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Colchester Acres and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 87 miles [140 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Colchester Acres to Richmond, with an average speed<2>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 5 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 18 miles [29 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,915 miles [9,519.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,621 miles [10,655.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,498 miles [7,238.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Colchester Acres) 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 Colchester Acres 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 Colchester Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8134, Longitude: -77.3728 In this case, the coordinates for Colchester Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.093 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.657 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.887 degrees. |
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