RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Amherst County >> Forks of Buffalo >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Forks of Buffalo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Forks of Buffalo 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 Forks of Buffalo:
    • 37.680492, -79.222566
    • 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 Forks of Buffalo
  • 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 Amherst County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Amherst County
    • Since Forks of Buffalo is near Buena Vista City and also Rockbridge County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buena Vista City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockbridge 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 Forks of Buffalo

Curious and Interesting Names Near Forks of Buffalo ...

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.

  • Buffalo Forge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Coolwell
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Cornwall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cornwall is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwall
  • Crossroads Store
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Crossroads Store is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads Store
  • Fancy Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Fancy Hill is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
  • Five Forks
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Five Forks is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Glasgow
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Irish Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Irish Creek is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Creek
  • Major
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Major is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Major
  • Mechanicsville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Monitor
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Mountain View
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mountain View is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Piney River
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Piney River is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney River
    • Pleasant View
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Roses Mill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Roses Mill is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roses Mill
    • Salt Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Salt Creek is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Creek
    • Shady Lane
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Shady Lane is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Lane
    • Sweet Briar Station
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Willow
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Willow is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow

How Far From Forks of Buffalo 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 Forks of Buffalo to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Amherst, which is the Seat of Amherst County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Forks of Buffalo to Amherst, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 98 miles [157.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 145 miles [233.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,042 miles [9,723.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,748 miles [10,859.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,625 miles [7,443.2 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Forks of Buffalo) 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 Forks of Buffalo 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 Forks of Buffalo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6805, Longitude: -79.2226    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.237 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.788 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.068 degrees.