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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Glen Alden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Glen Alden 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 Glen Alden:
    • 38.847335, -77.358597
    • 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 Glen Alden
  • 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 Glen Alden 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 Glen Alden

Curious and Interesting Names Near Glen Alden ...

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 southeast)
    • Blue Oaks is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Oaks
  • Butts Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Butts Corner is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butts Corner
  • Crystal Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Fair Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Green Acres
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Green Acres is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Greenway Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Greenway Hills is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Hills
  • 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
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Joyce Heights is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyce Heights
  • Lee-Hi Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Lee-Hi Village is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee-Hi Village
  • Lewis Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lewis Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Park
  • Lincoln Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Little River Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Little River Hills is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River Hills
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Maple Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Maple Hills is located in Fairfax City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hills
    • Navy
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Navy is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navy
    • Random Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Random Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Random Hills
    • Sideburn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Sideburn is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sideburn
    • Station Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Station Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Station Hills
    • Willow Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Willow Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

How Far From Glen Alden to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Glen Alden and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 90 miles [144.8 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Glen Alden 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 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 17 miles [27.4 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,913 miles [9,516.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,619 miles [10,652.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,496 miles [7,235.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Glen Alden) 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 Glen Alden 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 Glen Alden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8473, Longitude: -77.3586       In this case, the coordinates for Glen Alden have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.082 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.65 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.869 degrees.