RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gravel Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gravel Springs 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 Gravel Springs:
    • 39.075106, -78.440285
    • 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.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Gravel Springs
  • 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:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Gravel Springs ...

We found two communities that share the name Gravel Springs.

Within Virginia, the name Gravel Springs is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Forsyth County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Gravel Springs [Forsyth County].
      • Gwinnett County
      • This Gravel Springs is located in Gwinnett County and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<2> to the southwest of the Gravel Springs that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gwinnett County community of Gravel Springs.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gravel Springs ...

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.

  • Bloom ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bloom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
    • Bloom is located in Frederick County
  • Fawcett Gap
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fawcett Gap. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawcett Gap
    • Fawcett Gap is located in Frederick County
  • Hunters Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunters Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Valley
    • Hunters Valley is located in Frederick County
  • Meadow Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Mills
    • Meadow Mills is located in Frederick County
  • Mount Hope
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
    • Mount Hope is located in Shenandoah County
  • Mount Williams
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Williams have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Williams
    • Mount Williams is located in Frederick County
  • Mountain Falls
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Falls
    • Mountain Falls is located in Frederick County
  • Poplar Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Ridge
    • Poplar Ridge is located in Frederick County
  • Toms Brook
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Wheatfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheatfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatfield
    • Wheatfield is located in Shenandoah County
  • Yellow Spring
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

How Far From Gravel Springs 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 Gravel Springs to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 119 miles [191.5 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Gravel Springs to Richmond, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 76 miles [122.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,949 miles [9,574 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,658 miles [10,715 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,534 miles [7,296.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Gravel Springs. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Frederick County: www.co.frederick.va.us/

The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Gravel Springs could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Gravel Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gravel Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0751, Longitude: -78.4403       In this case, the coordinates for Gravel Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>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.
<7>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 Gravel Springs to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.712 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.402 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.242 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024