RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Tazewell County >> Five Oaks >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Five Oaks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Five Oaks 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 Five Oaks:
    • 37.149560, -81.488720
    • 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 Five Oaks
  • 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 Tazewell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
    • Since Five Oaks is near McDowell County and also Bland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McDowell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bland 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 Five Oaks

Communities Also Named Five Oaks ...

We found four communities that are also named Five Oaks.

Within Virginia, the name Five Oaks is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Caddo Parish
      • This Five Oaks is located in Caddo Parish and lies 772 miles [1,242.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Five Oaks that is located in Tazewell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caddo Parish community of Five Oaks.
    • North Carolina
      • Durham County
      • This Five Oaks is located in Durham County and lies 161 miles [259.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Five Oaks that is located in Tazewell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Durham County community of Five Oaks.
    • South Carolina
      • Spartanburg County
      • This Five Oaks is located in Spartanburg County and lies 141 miles [226.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Five Oaks that is located in Tazewell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spartanburg County community of Five Oaks.
    • Texas
      • Harris County
      • This Five Oaks is located in Harris County and lies 939 miles [1,511.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Five Oaks that is located in Tazewell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Five Oaks.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Five Oaks ...

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.

  • Abbs Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Abbs Valley is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley
  • Bishop
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bishop is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
  • Drytown
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Drytown is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drytown
  • Fourway
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Fourway is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourway
  • Frog Level
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Frog Level is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Level
  • Horsepen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Horsepen is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsepen
  • Horsepen Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Horsepen Cove is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsepen Cove
  • Joe Neets
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Joe Neets is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joe Neets
  • Mud Fork
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Mud Fork is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Fork
  • River Jack
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • River Jack is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Jack
  • Stony Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Stony Ridge is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Ridge
  • Tiptop
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Tiptop is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiptop

How Far From Five Oaks 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 Five Oaks to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Five Oaks and extending to:

  • Tazewell, which is the Seat of Tazewell County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 224 miles [360.5 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Five Oaks to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 270 miles [434.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,161 miles [9,915.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,870 miles [11,056.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,746 miles [7,637.9 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Five Oaks) 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 Five Oaks 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 Five Oaks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1496, Longitude: -81.4887       In this case, the coordinates for Five Oaks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.592 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.258 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.181 degrees.