RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Roanoke County >> Greenwood Forest >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Greenwood Forest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Greenwood Forest 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 Greenwood Forest:
    • 37.238470, -79.993649
    • 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 Greenwood Forest
  • 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 Roanoke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke County
    • Since Greenwood Forest is near Roanoke City and also Salem City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Salem City
  • 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 Greenwood Forest

Communities Also Named Greenwood Forest ...

We found five communities that are also named Greenwood Forest.

Within Virginia, the name Greenwood Forest is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Clinch 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 Greenwood Forest [Clinch County].
    • Maryland
      • Prince George's 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 Maryland community of Greenwood Forest [Prince George's County].
    • South Carolina
      • Beaufort County
      • This Greenwood Forest is located in Beaufort County and lies 355 miles [571.3 km]<2> to the south of the Greenwood Forest that is located in Roanoke County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaufort County community of Greenwood Forest.
    • Tennessee
      • Knox County
      • This Greenwood Forest is located in Knox County and lies 233 miles [375 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Greenwood Forest that is located in Roanoke County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Greenwood Forest.
    • Texas
      • Harris County
      • This Greenwood Forest is located in Harris County and lies 1,021 miles [1,643.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Greenwood Forest that is located in Roanoke County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Greenwood Forest.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Greenwood Forest ...

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.

  • Castle Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Castle Hill is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Hill
  • Castle Rock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Castle Rock is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Rock
  • Cave Spring
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cave Spring is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Spring
  • Cherry Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cherry Hill is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill
  • Chestnut Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Chestnut Hills is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
  • Crescent Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Crescent Heights is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Heights
  • Crest Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Crest Hill is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crest Hill
  • Crystal Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Crystal Spring is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Spring
  • Green Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Green Valley is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Greenland Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Greenland Hills is located in Roanoke City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland Hills
  • Hidden Valley Court
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hidden Valley Court is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Valley Court
  • Highfields
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Highfields is located in Roanoke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfields
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Homeplace
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Homeplace is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeplace
    • Homewood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Homewood is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
    • Hunting Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hunting Hills is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Hills
    • Janette Land
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Janette Land is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janette Land
    • Lemon Dell
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Lemon Dell is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemon Dell
    • Meadowlark
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Meadowlark is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowlark
    • Mountain View
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Mountain View is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
    • Narrows
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Narrows is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narrows
    • Peakwood Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Peakwood Hills is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peakwood Hills
    • Rosecrest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rosecrest is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosecrest
    • Scenic Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Scenic Hills is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Hills
    • Spring Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Spring Valley is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Springlawn
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Springlawn is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springlawn
    • Sugar Loaf Farms
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sugar Loaf Farms is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Loaf Farms
    • Sugar Loaf Highlands
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Sugar Loaf Highlands is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Loaf Highlands
    • Sugar Loaf Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Sugar Loaf Hills is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Loaf Hills
    • Sunset Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset Hills is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Hills
    • Virginia Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Virginia Heights is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Heights
    • Wildwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Wildwood is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Woods Crossing
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Woods Crossing is located in Roanoke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Crossing
    • Yellowstone
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Yellowstone is located in Roanoke City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellowstone

How Far From Greenwood Forest 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 Greenwood Forest to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 141 miles [226.9 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Greenwood Forest to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 197 miles [317 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,094 miles [9,807.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,800 miles [10,943.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,677 miles [7,526.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Greenwood Forest 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Greenwood Forest) 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 Greenwood Forest 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 Greenwood Forest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2385, Longitude: -79.9936       In this case, the coordinates for Greenwood Forest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.704 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.255 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.534 degrees.