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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Four Forks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Four Forks 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 Four Forks:
    • 37.582087, -78.844462
    • 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 Four Forks
  • 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 Nelson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Nelson County
    • Since Four Forks is near Buckingham County and also Appomattox County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buckingham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Appomattox 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 Four Forks

Communities Also Named Four Forks ...

We found six communities that are also named Four Forks.

Within Virginia, the name Four Forks is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Lee County
      • This Four Forks is located in Lee County and lies 694 miles [1,116.9 km]<1> to the west of the Four Forks that is located in Nelson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Four Forks.
      • Woodruff County
      • This Four Forks is located in Woodruff County and lies 710 miles [1,142.6 km] to the west of the Four Forks that is located in Nelson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodruff County community of Four Forks.
    • Louisiana
      • Caddo Parish
      • This Four Forks is located in Caddo Parish and lies 932 miles [1,499.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Four Forks that is located in Nelson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caddo Parish community of Four Forks.
      • Richland Parish
      • This Four Forks is located in Richland Parish and lies 820 miles [1,319.7 km] to the west southwest of the Four Forks that is located in Nelson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland Parish community of Four Forks.
    • Mississippi
      • Jefferson County
      • This Four Forks is located in Jefferson County and lies 809 miles [1,302 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Four Forks that is located in Nelson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Four Forks.
    • New Mexico
      • Eddy County
      • This Four Forks is located in Eddy County and lies 1,482 miles [2,385 km]<1> to the west of the Four Forks that is located in Nelson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eddy County community of Four Forks.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Four Forks ...

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 Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Buffalo Springs is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
  • Five Forks
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Five Forks is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Greenway
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Greenway is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
  • Kingswood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Kingswood is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
  • Mineral ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mineral is located in Appomattox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
  • Red Apple Orchard
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Red Apple Orchard is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Apple Orchard
  • Shipman
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Shipman is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shipman
  • Stonewall Mills
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Stonewall Mills is located in Appomattox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall Mills
  • Union Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Union Hill is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
  • Woods Corner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Woods Corner is located in Buckingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Corner

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

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

  • Lovingston, which is the Seat of Nelson County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Four Forks to Lovingston, with an average speed<2> 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 77 miles [123.9 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 most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 133 miles [214 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,031 miles [9,706 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,734 miles [10,837.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,612 miles [7,422.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Four Forks) 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 Four Forks 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 Four Forks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5821, Longitude: -78.8445       In this case, the coordinates for Four Forks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.018 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.523 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.946 degrees.