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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Columbia Pines, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Columbia Pines 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 Columbia Pines:
    • 38.840668, -77.187203
    • 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 Columbia Pines
  • 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 Columbia Pines is near Falls Church City and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington 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 Columbia Pines

Curious and Interesting Names Near Columbia Pines ...

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 south)
    • Alpine is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Camelot
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Camelot is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cedar Crest
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Chestnut Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Falls Church
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • 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 south)
    • Hillbrook is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillbrook
  • Indian Run Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Run Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Run Park
  • Indian Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Mount Pleasant
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • 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
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Ravenwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] 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 northeast)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Valley Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Valley Brook is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Brook
    • Virginia Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
    • 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 southeast)
      • Willow Run is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run

How Far From Columbia Pines to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Columbia Pines to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Columbia Pines 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 Columbia Pines 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 9 miles [14.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,906 miles [9,504.8 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' (or 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- Columbia Pines) 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 Columbia Pines 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 Columbia Pines. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8407, Longitude: -77.1872       In this case, the coordinates for Columbia Pines have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.982 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.535 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.799 degrees.